


The Final Year

by nyclove3



Series: The Final Year [1]
Category: Community
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-02
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 64,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyclove3/pseuds/nyclove3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of moments in Jeff and Annie's relationship starting in the summer before their final year at Greendale leading all the way to Graduation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. June 2012

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Me no own Community. Me stupid.
> 
>  **A/N:** This was written before and during the Season 3 hiatus based on vague spoilers about Jeff meeting his dad so there is detail here which doesn't correlate to what we've seen. I guess it makes it AU after mid season 3...? You'll see what I mean! Anyway, I hope you like it. :)

**_June 2012_ **

On the first day of summer before his final year at Greendale, Jeff cracks open a bottle of beer and sinks into his couch.

The apartment is quiet and the air is heavy with the lingering heat that only the summer brings, and he releases a deep satisfied breath as he takes in the moment and how it settles around him - a relaxed kind of contentment he's never really felt before.

He thinks it might have something to do with meeting his father after all these years; finally getting a few things off his chest, things he's held inside for twenty years and then some. Even though they were never going to have a relationship - not that he wants one, seriously, the guy’s a douchebag - Jeff feels some kind of release, an unburdening. It’s like the weight of bitterness built over many years has melted and bled away.

Okay, so not completely. An absent father is not something anyone gets over with a few choice words. He doubts he'll ever really be over it. In fact, he's pretty sure he'll be in some form of therapy on and off for the rest of his life. But he feels slightly better inside now, a little less hollow - free and light and kind of bouncy on his feet. If he has to describe it, he feels like Annie and how she looks every day of her life, how she chooses to be.

And suddenly, inexplicably, just like that, he _has_ to see her.

 

~x~

 

There's a dog barking non-stop and the muffled sounds of someone's TV playing too loud on the floor above, and Jeff doesn’t want to think about why he’s there, standing outside Annie's apartment, staring intently at the three digits on the door until they aren’t there anymore. He’ll deal with the reasons later.

Eventually.

At some point. Whenever.

“Jeff!" Annie squeaks in surprise, though it appears to be a happy one as she opens the door wider. "How long have you been standing out here?”

 _“_ I just got here.”

Annie smiles and thankfully doesn't realize he was, in fact, standing outside her door for longer than is acceptable or sane, and beckons him inside with a little wave.

“Troy and Abed aren’t here," she says. "They’ve gone grocery shopping. I put my foot down, applied my formidable face and told them I wasn’t going this week. You’d be proud of me.”

“Formidable face, huh?” He grins as she nods with a proud cheeky smile that makes him feel pretty proud too. “They didn’t stand a chance.”

“I know, right? So, did you want a drink while you wait for them?” She moves into the small kitchen and opens the refrigerator, bending slightly to survey the shelves, although predictably they look a little bare right now. “We might have some beer…”

“Annie.”

“Nope, no beer. There’s coke but it’s not diet and I know you only drink diet.”

“ _Annie_.”

“Water?”

“Annie, shut up.”

The refrigerator door falls closed and all the condiments and bottles clink inside with the sudden movement as Annie spins around to face him, wide eyed, mouth open, perhaps a little offended.

“I didn’t come to see Troy and Abed," he continues. "You’re my friend too.”

It's a little awkward at first, at least on Jeff's end, because he's never told her how much he actually likes being her friend even though it might not always seem like it, but their eyes hold over the kitchen bar, shared smiles inching across their faces as the truth of his words sink in.

Jeff only then notices the tiny green sundress she’s wearing and the skin it doesn’t cover. There’s a pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head and a wave to her normally straight hair and a shine to her lips and -

_She’s free and light and bouncy._

Annie flushes under the weight of his gaze and looks at the floor for a moment. “Oh, yeah, of course. I just didn’t think…Um…What did you want to do?” she settles on, finally.

Jeff can think of lots of things he’d like to do and all of them involve her and a hard surface, his hands on her skin, her taste on his lips and his name on hers. He's suddenly all too aware of the silence of the apartment and how alone they are, how dangerous that is. He might have had similar dirty thoughts such as these before, more than once, more than a lot of times, but there's always someone around to distract him eventually.

“Were you going out when I arrived?” he asks, the words kind of strangled in his throat as he swallows hard against his thoughts.

Dangerous, dirty thoughts.

He folds his arms as an excuse to do something with his hands, anything but touch her. The woman is already tempting in prim cardigans and tights but now? He finds his foot tapping erratically.

It's an energy he's having to expel in other ways more and more lately.

“Yeah, I was going to grab a coffee around the corner," Annie says then, completely oblivious to his inner turmoil. "Maybe sit outside with a book or something. It’s too nice to be indoors.”

Before he can question his own reasoning, he plucks at his own pair of sunglasses hooked over the collar of his t-shirt and puts them on.

“Want some company?”

Her wide smile is all the answer he needs.

 

~x~

 

It turns out that Annie is easy company. Not that he didn’t know it before but sometimes they’re so wrapped up in study and stupid Greendale problems named Chang or Pierce, that they go days without having proper one-on-one conversations. The kind where they can just talk about random things, quote their favorite movies and discuss the mysteries of life like whether or not the Dean really does have a sister.

Jeff likes school Annie; the one full of determination, who embraces their crazy adventures with boundless enthusiasm and never fails to surprise him. But he soon learns that he likes summer Annie just as much. The way she relaxes into the chair at the coffee house, and tells him his jokes are lame but laughs anyway. There's an easiness to her presence that he doesn't always experience when she's berating him across the study room table for not doing his share of the homework, and her smile is so contagious he's near sick with it, and he thinks _shit,_ this is what I missed out on every summer when I stayed away?

At one point during the afternoon, a car drives past blaring a rap song by Snoop Dog, and Annie randomly mentions her outrage that Troy and Abed never let her rap with them and proceeds to make one up on the spot, just random nonsensical lyrics about her day so far, and Jeff laughs long and hard, a deep rumbling in his chest that makes his sides ache. It’s a freeing feeling he hasn’t had in a long time and it has _nothing_ to do with having met his father.

Later that night he tries to do some calculations, adding the two of these Annie’s together, and he realizes that he may have a slight problem, as if he didn’t know that already.

                                                                       

~x~

 

A week later and it’s a _thing_.

Not _that_ kind of thing but enough of something that he finds himself thinking about her a lot, wondering what she's doing and what else he’s missing out on when she’s not around.

After work one evening he's roped into going to a bar with Alan and before he knows it, they’re sat in a dark booth with two women, drinking cocktails and falling back into the life that used to come so easily, one that didn’t take much thought.

One of the women shuffles closer to play with the length of his tie in a way that's supposed to be seductive but is really just fucking annoying, a red smile plastered on her fake lips, but all Jeff can think about is how Annie’s lips are natural and soft and taste like bubble-gum. And then he starts thinking of Annie’s tongue and how it played with his perfectly, like a duet, and how great she felt tight against his body, how amazing she felt in his hands. And then he realizes that it’s an old memory he’s going on and he actually hasn’t kissed her in, what, two years?

Is it normal to remember a kiss from that long ago?

He reasons then that thinking about her is dangerous and so figures it’s probably better to just spend as much time in her company as possible. That way, he won’t have to think about her because she’ll just be there.

His logic is infallible.

 

~x~

 

On the days that he’s consulting at Ted’s firm and she’s working at the local library around the corner, they start meeting for lunch, although it happens by chance at first.

Annie only works three days a week – not to mess with her volunteering schedule – but it’s enough that it becomes a habit. It’s enough that he starts to look forward to it; that his heart races just a little as he reaches the diner where they eat or that his favorite thing becomes Annie’s wide smile and bright eyes when she sees him enter.

He tries not to think too much about what it means.

It’s Wednesday and Annie’s already sitting in their usual booth sipping on a cherry coke, eyes narrowed watching his approach.

“Hey," she says with a soft smile. "I ordered your usual. You okay?”

Jeff slides into the cool leather seat, stretching one arm along the back of the booth and fiddling with his tie. “I’m fine. You?”

She eyes him for a minute before setting her drink to one side. “You know, we’ve been meeting like this for two weeks now and whenever I ask how you are you’re always fine. No one is fine all the time, Jeff.”

“Annie. You can rhyme. Congratulations.”

She frowns but her eyes are amused, which is something. “I’m being serious! You’ve listened to me rant about the goings-on in the library. Let me do the same for you.”

“But your stories are much more fun than mine," he says. "Tell me again what you called that old lady when she put a book back on the wrong shelf?”

“The books and shelves are clearly labelled, Jeff. Just because she’s old does not excuse her lazy behavior. So I got a little carried away. Who doesn’t?”

He laughs, slowly feels the stress of the morning start to fade. “Sure, Annie. Whatever you say.”

“Wait a minute! You totally changed the subject. No fair!” She shakes her head at his crafty smile before her own lips quirk in amusement. “I meant what I said though, Jeff. I’m your friend and when I see you like this-”

He frowns, a little startled by the seriousness on her face now. “Like what?”

“Tense and stressed and angry. It makes me, I don’t know…sad, I guess? And worried. I just want you to know that you can talk to me, that’s all.”

Jeff is drawn to the hope in her eyes and the anticipative lilt to her small smile, and he can feel the burden of his words right there, waiting to spill out, but all he manages in that moment is to lift her glass and take a sip of her drink, shuddering at the sweetness of it on his tongue.

“Bleugh, Annie, you need to stop drinking stuff that will put you in a diabetic coma.” 

Annie shakes her head in resignation because they really have been playing this little game for weeks now, and their food arrives shortly after. Soon the seriousness is swept away into random chatter about Abed and movie nights and what time Britta’s returning from her three week trip to San Francisco.

Their lunch is over as quickly as it begun and Annie asks for the check, fussing with her purse and not really looking at him. In the silence Jeff replays what she said to him, over and over, and the guilt settles heavy in his chest. He knows she was only trying to help but honestly, just being in her presence is really all he needs to get rid of the day’s stress for a little while – because she’s free and light and bouncy and that rubs off on a guy - but she wouldn’t know that. It’s not like he’s told her.

_Maybe he should?_

No. That’s…weird.

But then he looks at her face, so open and sincere, and the resigned slope of her shoulders, and he exhales a breath of agitation at what he's about to admit.

“Work is not good.”

Annie’s gaze snaps up from her wallet, wide and alert suddenly. “What?”

“When I returned to consulting I thought I’d just pick up where I left off but I’m not a Lawyer and so I can’t do everything I did before, even though I’m clearly capable, and it’s just so…” His fist tightens on the table and he grits his teeth until he's able to speak the word that doesn't really encapsulate how he's feeling. “Frustrating.”

“Oh, Jeff.”

He looks up from where she’s placed her palm delicately over his fist and catches her eyes and there’s so much warmth and concern there that he doesn’t quite know what to do with it. And the silence, that’s taken hold of them, what does he do with that? 

He fills it.

And just like that, as if some kind of floodgates have opened, he tells her about Alan and how much he wants to punch him in his annoying smarmy face, and the pitying looks he sometimes receives from co-workers and he hates that because Jeff Winger doesn’t do pity.

They only sit there for five more minutes but Jeff finds himself relaxed again, his shoulders less tense and tight in the same way they were at the start of the summer, and he’s never been more grateful for the soft graze of her thumb against his or her understanding nod to his every word and the concern lighting her eyes.

But, you know, it’s all normal because they’re friends and they like each other and this is what friends do. 


	2. July 2012

**_July 2012_ **

At the beginning of July, the group attends a party at Shirley’s to celebrate Andre’s birthday.

Shirley has decorated the backyard with strings of colored lights and lanterns in the trees above, and everything is bathed in a kind of happy glow that glimmers on the glass of Jeff’s beer bottle. He still feels a bit out of place at family gatherings such as these, so Jeff leans against the wall near the sliding door, listening to the tinker of laughter and music and Shirley scolding her sister-in-law in the kitchen.

In the middle of the yard, surrounded by picnic tables and plastic chairs, Elijah and Jordan attempt some sort of dance that vaguely resembles the robot, and Britta and Troy both laugh as they shuffle and spin awkwardly, not really caring that their movements are out of sync. While Pierce checks the quality of the beer sitting chilled in iced buckets, Jeff checks his watch.

It’s been fifteen minutes since a suspicious whispered conversation between Annie and Abed at the drinks table and fourteen minutes since they disappeared inside. He doesn’t care that he’s excluded or that their faces were really close – whatever, he couldn’t be any less bothered, unless of course they were kissing again which would be detrimental to the group - but seriously, what the hell were they doing? He’s not aware of the breath he’s been holding until Annie wanders through the open door and he exhales heavily in what feels like…relief?

“Jeff, what do you think?”

She twirls around in a pink dress so pale it’s almost the color of her skin and under the lights she’s luminescent, which is ridiculous because Jeff Winger doesn’t think things like that.

“Um, _yeah_.” He smiles as her gaze flutters to the floor and yep, there's definitely a bit of a blush happening there. “Why did you change?”

“Oh, we watched Dirty Dancing last night and Abed thought the party was the perfect moment to re-enact it. You know how he gets sometimes.”

“You’re going to re-enact Dirty Dancing _._ With Abed. In this tiny backyard?” he asks, and takes another swig of beer.

“Yeah, well, try to at least.” She starts fussing with the bodice of the dress, seeming to struggle with how low it sits against her breasts and _holy crap look away look away._

“Why? You don't have to indulge him, Annie.”

Annie grips his forearm as she leans forward, glancing over her shoulders as if she’s about to tell him a secret and he feels himself leaning in too, intrigued. “It’s this thing called fun, Jeff. You should try having some once in a while.” She steps back, a satisfied smile grazing shiny pink lips. “And Abed looks so handsome dressed like Patrick Swayze! Wait till you see.”

“Surely you need someone strong and muscular to lift you rather than Abed who looks like a pencil," Jeff says with a throaty scoff. "We all know they’re easy to snap.”

Annie just blinks at him for a moment. “Are you implying that I’d be heavy to lift?”

“Okay, now you’re being delusional.”

"Oh, Jeff," she says, patting his chest. “Abed is much stronger than he looks. Trust me.”

Jeff doesn't know if the suggestiveness in her tone is real or imagined, but he doesn't like it. It irritates him like nothing else. Just as he opens his mouth to respond, Abed emerges from the house dressed in a tight black t shirt and pants. He's still wearing his usual scuffed sneakers which don't really complete the look but that doesn't seem to matter when he snakes his hand around Annie’s wrist and moves in close to her ear.

“Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

Jeff feels his grip tighten around his beer bottle when Annie flushes and giggles, the sound girlish and giddy. He watches them move to the dance area where Britta and Troy each give them high-fives before Abed takes Annie by the hand and spins her around, completely absorbed in his new persona now. With the speed of the movement Annie's skirt billows upwards and Jeff can’t tear his eyes away from her thighs and how temptingly long her legs look, surprising for someone so tiny in height. It’s only when he nearly chokes at the glimpse of skimpy black panties barely covering the curve of her ass that he decides to go chat with Andre grilling burgers at the grill.

_That’s fun, right?_

It's safer for his sanity, that's for sure.

They spend a few minutes chatting back and forth about the new grill that Andre recently purchased and the importance of buying the right kind of beef for hamburgers, when Andre stops to take a swig of beer, his eyes drawn to the dance area.

“Are those two…you know?”

Jeff frowns in the pointed direction of Andre’s spatula. “Annie and Abed? _”_ He makes a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, shaking his head all the while. “No.”

“Huh.”

The grill sizzles and smokes.

His smile fades slightly and he tries to play it cool when he says, “Why do you ask?”

Andre shrugs and resumes flipping the burgers. “I’m just surprised that she hasn’t been snatched up, you know? I mean, Shirley speaks highly of her and the boys love her when she babysits and well, look at her man. It can’t be long until some dude realizes what a catch she is. Right?”

Jeff glances back at Annie now being lifted in the air by Abed, her face shining as she gazes down at him, her hands gripping his shoulders tight.

He downs the rest of his beer too fast then, his party spirit diminishing immediately.

“Right,” he says flatly, and looks away.

 

~x~

It's a quiet Thursday afternoon when Jeff wanders through the mall, a few bags swinging in one hand and an iced mocha in the other. Mall visits had always been a pretty enjoyable way to spend the time - buy some new outfits and maybe flirt with the sales ladies if he was in the mood - but since the incident with the Dean last year, he feels unnerved by it all, almost like someone is watching him, ready to jump out and strike at any moment. Now he's on constant alert and can't really relax, always stealing glances over his shoulder expecting, well, the worst.

He's pretty sure he has some kind of Dean-related PTSD.

He's just about to check the area behind him for the fifth, maybe sixth, time when he notices Troy and Abed outside Best Buy. They're standing in front of a giant potted fern that takes up a huge amount of space in the middle of the walkway, both gesturing back and forth, seemingly over the DVDs in Abed’s hand.

“Hey guys,” Jeff says with a grin and wanders closer.

“Jeff!” They both speak at the same time and turn to look at each other before giving a resigned sort of shrug.

“More movies?” he asks.

“I’ve decided to run with the theme of the moment: summer vacation. This week we’re watching Meatballs, Wet Hot American Summer and National Lampoon’s Vacation.” Abed holds out each DVD as he reads them.

“Yeah, it’s movie night.” Troy says, as if that wasn't obvious already. “You should join us.”

“I don’t know, I-”

“Annie will persuade you when she arrives in…” Abed quickly checks his watch. “Two minutes.”

“Annie’s here?” Jeff wonders, and the quick scan he does of the surrounding area is honestly beyond his control.  

Abed nods. “She told us to wait by this potted plant.”

“Yeaaahhh…I kinda think it was the next one.”

“No, it was this one.” Abed points to the fern behind them. “The graffiti on the side says ‘ _Bite me_ ’ and it reminded me of Britta.”

"Oh yeah," Troy says with a laugh and coyly drops his chin to his chest.

Jeff doesn't have any time to dwell on that particular reaction because Annie approaches them with the usual skip to her step and an eager wave, and Jeff’s gaze immediately narrows in on the bag from Victoria’s Secret in her hand. _  
_

“Hey Jeff.” She smiles widely, shifting her purse strap higher on her shoulder as she takes in the bags in his hand. “Oooh, what did you buy? No, let me guess, let me guess. Overpriced hair products and a new shirt?”

Jeff smirks. “Wow. You got me pegged.”

Abed nods again. “Yes, she does.”

"For your information, I bought _two_ new shirts and some face cream."

"It's like I don't know you at all!" Annie smiles, teasing. “Are you joining us for lunch?"

“Sure.” He shrugs. “Nothing better to do.”

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool. Next you can convince him to come to movie night.”

While Jeff and Annie fall in step, Troy and Abed walk slowly behind them, chatting animatedly about National Lampoon and Clark Griswold and his uncanny resemblance to a much younger Pierce.

“Abed, I just don’t see it.”

They walk in silence for a minute or two before Jeff's intrigue gets the better of him and he points to Annie’s bag.

“So, Victoria's Secret, huh? I didn’t know they sold books, pens and colored note cards.”

"Sure, because that's all I ever buy," Annie says, rolling her eyes. “You’re aware that those things don’t define me, right? That I like sexy lingerie just as much as the next woman.”

“Sexy?”

She smiles and whispers low, “Yes, _sexy,_ ” shaking her head a little. "Shocker."

Jeff clears his throat, hoping to shake the mental image of Annie in tiny scraps of pastel colored lace clouding his concentration. “Okay, so anything else you need to buy?”

She narrows her eyes at him, almost like she wants to call him out on the croaky crack of his voice, or that she knows damn well he's trying to change the subject, but then her expression brightens and he can tell she's shelved the idea away, thank god.

“Yeah," she says. "I’m looking for a new dress. Something special and a little different than usual. Black maybe?”

“Black? I don’t know Annie, that really doesn’t sound like you. I’d guess you’re more of a purple. Or maybe something with a floral pattern or whatever, I don't know.”

“Every woman should own a little black dress, Jeff.”

"Oh, is that in the handbook?" He grins and shrugs when she rolls her eyes. “What’s the occasion?” he asks.

It’s a long enough pause that he glances over, fleetingly at first, to see her fiddle with the strap of her purse. Her hesitation makes him nervous for some reason, which is ridiculous because -

“Annie’s got a date.”

“Abed!”

Abed tilts his head, staring at her blandly, seemingly unaware he's just broken some sort of roommate code while simultaneously giving Jeff the equivalent of a punch to the gut.

“What?" he says. "You do. Was it a secret?”

"No, it's just...I don't know," Annie stutters a little. "My story to tell."

"A date, huh?" Jeff says, trying to keep his voice steady and not as high pitched as his insides suddenly feel because this is the last thing he expected. "Anyone we know?”

“Um, Britta set me up with one of her brother’s friends. Do you remember Blake? You met him at that party a few months ago.”

Blake. Thirty. Tall. Black hair. Wore tour t-shirts from concerts he wasn’t even alive to see. Probably read the douchebag 101 manual on a daily basis.

"Blake?" He frowns and taps at his chin a couple of times, really laying his faux confusion on thick. “Nah, I can’t remember. What’s he like?”

“Oh, we only spoke briefly but he seemed nice.”

“And Britta says he’s asked about Annie ten times since the party.”

Annie jumps at Abed’s sudden closeness. “Yes, thanks Abed,” she mutters, and rolls her eyes in annoyance.

“Ten times, huh?”

Her smile is small and modest. “Apparently.”

Nodding for no reason, Jeff sips on the last drop of his drink. "Are you excited?”

“Sure.”

“Wow, Annie. That was convincing,” Jeff says with a smirk, her lack of reaction making him feel better already. “Look, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Britta will just have to suck it.”

“I know I don’t have to, Jeff!” Annie huffs and starts swinging the bag in her hand. “But I want to go. It’ll be nice to go on a date again and Britta and Shirley have been pestering me for a while now. I just…I guess I don’t understand why everyone thinks I should be out dating a new guy every week.”

“Not everyone,” he mutters under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s because you’re a beautiful young woman at her sexual peak and it’s normal for you to be dating.”

“Abed!” Annie gasps scandalously and doesn't know where to look, red scoring high on her cheeks as Troy nods his agreement.

Jeff spots a trash can and throws in his empty cup with more force than necessary. “So, where are we heading for lunch?”

 

~x~

 

Two nights later Jeff is watching re-runs of Family Guy. He’s cracked open a six pack and his pizza should be arriving any minute so he’s expecting the knock on his door. What he’s not expecting is the beautiful woman behind it, standing there in a short purple dress, a pair of silver heels swinging from one hand. He’s momentarily dazed by how gorgeous she looks - even though she's stunning pretty much all of the time - and he finds himself trailing his eyes down to her polished toes and then back up to her face, flushed and full of apprehension.

“Annie?" he says, blinking at her for a second. "What…I thought you had a date tonight.”

“I did. It was horrible. I’m never letting Britta set me up ever again. Ever!”

Concern floods through him, like his stomach actually drops for a second, and he tugs on her arm to pull her inside. “What happened? He didn’t-”

“Oh no, nothing like that. He was just so…” She shakes her head and makes a throaty noise in exasperation. “Every time I tried to speak he just wouldn’t stop talking about himself and then he started to criticize Britta and I just…” She pauses briefly to look down at where his fingers have curled around her wrist, his thumb rubbing in an absentminded comforting caress. “Um…”

Jeff follows her gaze, dropping her arm fast and runnning his hand through his hair. _  
_

“I’m sorry. I'm not interrupting am I?” Annie bounces lightly on her tiptoes, glancing around his apartment, a little nervous now. “I was outside your door when I realized you might have a date too…”

“Just my monthly date with a thin crust," he smiles. "You hungry?”

Her lips twist thoughtfully to one side as she considers. “I _could_ eat something.”

Jeff leads her to the couch and offers her a beer, trying to wipe the look of surprise off his face when she doesn't hesitate to crack it open and take a long swig. The sight of her arched neck undulating as she swallows is not the kind of image he needs right now, especially not when she's looking so beautiful and mature and different to anything he's used to.

He actually really digs Annie in her prim colorful cardigans and short skirts and the blouses that reveal without revealing too much but this...this is something else completely and his pulse is really liking the change.

“So," he starts slowly. "Not that I mind you being here, obviously, but why didn’t you just go home?”

Annie sighs, preening and thumbing the delicate folds of lace edging the skirt of her dress. “As much as I love living with Troy and Abed, sometimes I just need somewhere to run, you know, to avoid a hundred questions and the daily detailed accounts of the adventures of the Dreamatorium. I just…after my horrible date I didn’t feel like dealing with them and…I thought of you.” She winces, like she didn't mean to admit that. “I’m sorry, is that weird?”

He shakes his head without thought and her answering smile makes his stomach drop. He tries not to think about the fact that she came to him first or the feelings it evokes, despite the fact that the only time people ever came to him for help was when they had to pay for the privilege, and even that was a long time ago now. But Annie wanting his company just _because_ is entirely new and nice and something he could get used to and shit…it’s still nice.

There's no other word for it.

“Do you like Family Guy?"

"Sure," Annie says, settling back into the couch and curling her feet to the side. “Stewie’s my favorite. I like to imagine all babies talk with a British accent.”

Jeff laughs, grabbing a beer and extending his legs to rest on the coffee table. They sit in comfortable silence, watching TV for a few minutes until the pizza arrives. After setting the box on the coffee table, Jeff grabs a slice and Annie does too. He has to stop from grinning too wide as he watches her wind the melting cheese around her finger, leaning back to dangle the string of cheese into her mouth before taking a hearty bite. She turns to him and munches with a cheeky satisfied smile, licking her lips and the grease from her fingers.

“Giggity! Giggity!”

“Jeff!” she splutters in surprise.

He smiles and they turn back to the TV, filling the room with occasional laughter as they eat. During one set of commercials, Jeff turns to her in the silence.

“So, I have a question.” She looks surprised and wipes the corner of her mouth, gesturing expectantly. “What happened to the little black dress that all women should have?”

Annie flushes and starts playing with the strap. “Um, well, you were right. It wasn’t me at all.”


	3. August 2012

**_August 2012_ **

It’s August when Jeff realizes there are no lines.

There are daily texts, lunches, late night chats and hanging out in his apartment when Troy and Abed’s Dreamatorium adventures get out of hand.

At lunch one day, Annie tells him that she's decided to go to Law School - an option she's considered since their school trial last semester - and Jeff is pretty overwhelmed by the image of Annie and her formidable face as she paces the length of the courtroom presenting her case. He can’t help the frisson of pride that _he_ might have had something to do with that decision but stomps down the thought just as quickly because seriously? He can’t be thinking things like that.

Yeah. Jeff is so far beyond the line it’s just a blurry figment of his imagination.

 

~x~

 

It's barely midday when Jeff swings his Lexus onto the driveway leading to Pierce’s mansion, braking harshly on purpose to wake a hung-over Britta drooling slightly against the passenger window. She doesn't move but Jeff smirks at her responding groan and string of curses just as Troy and Abed roll up behind them.

“Where’s Annie?” Jeff asks once he's out of the car, noticing their backseat full of pool inflatables.

“We had a slight miscalculation of body-to-inflatable-space ratio,” Abed says monotonously.

"Huh?" Britta says from where she's now slumped against the car. "It's too early for this," she whines, and scrunches her face in the sunlight even though she's wearing sunglasses.

There’s a series of squeaks and slaps as Troy fights with an alligator that refuses to leave the backseat. “She couldn’t fit in the car with us, so she’s riding with Shirley.”

“Aren’t you guys a little old for those things?” Britta points as Abed starts to pile a stack of inflatable rings around his body.

Troy shrugs. “We both know you’ll be floating on one of these by the end of the day, Britta.”

Ignoring Britta’s pointed glare, Troy shouts "This way!" and leads them to the entrance at the side of the house, keying in a code on the security pad that swings the gate open. Rounding the corner and down a few shallow steps, there’s a decent-sized pool and a large deck area with tables shaded by thatched tiki umbrellas.

Abed nods in appreciation, muttering "Cool, cool cool cool" as Britta mumbles "Score!" and flops face down on one of the cushioned loungers still in the shade. Jeff takes a long look around, taking note of the garden statues that have an unsettling likeness to Pierce - intentionally, he's sure - and tries to decide on the best place to sit for optimal sunbathing for the rest of the day.

He manages to snag a couple of loungers - one for him, one for Annie - and is just angling them in the direction of the sun when Shirley appears around the corner, juggling Ben on one hip and an even bigger bag than usual balanced on the other.

“Hellooooo!” she calls, and her two eldest boys zoom past in a blur of childish excitement, throwing off their shirts and shoes and jumping into the pool with a hearty splash and not so much as a hello to anyone.

Annie's not far behind her, looking beautiful in a sundress and flip-flops, and there's something so relaxed and carefree about her, the way her hair is braided over one shoulder and how it highlights the pale arch of her neck.

They all seem to be on time as Pierce walks out to the deck pushing a cart of drinks. “Ah, my study group.” He frowns at the boys in the pool, adding, “And little people. Welcome. Let the festivities begin.”

With a smugness that probably belies how happy he is to have company, Pierce pops the cork on a bottle of champagne, the spray releasing squeals of delight from Shirley and Annie and a half-hearted “Woo!” from Britta.

Once the bubbles fade, Annie waves timidly at Jeff before she wanders over to give him a hug. They didn't see each other yesterday - she had to switch her shift at the library with someone else so their usual lunch date never happened - and, somehow, a hug feels necessary. It's awkward at first, in front of everyone, but soon her cheek is pressed almost contentedly to his chest and Jeff allows himself this moment, however fleeting.

When they pull apart, their eyes lock like they always do, instinctively. Annie licks her lips, throwing a quick glance at his mouth, and Jeff barely swallows a growl as Shirley pointedly clears her throat before shoving Ben into Annie’s arms.

Just like that, the moment's over.

Jeff stumbles, rubbing the dent in his chest from Shirley’s elbow. "Um, _ow_."

“I think Ben would like to go in the water, Annie.” Despite her sugary tone, Shirley’s eyes practically scream _“Careful boy, touch her and I’ll kill you.”_

Annie frowns, clearly sensing the undertone, and bounces the squirming toddler. “Um, right, I’ll get him ready. Let's get you ready, shall we?” she says to Ben, pretending to bite the tiny hand he shoves against her mouth as she disappears inside.

Shirley throws him one last threatening glare which she holds in challenge until Jeff backs away with both hands raised.

Soon, Jeff is splayed out while Shirley helps Pierce prepare the BBQ. In the pool, Troy and Abed play pirates with Jordan and Elijah, using the inflatables as weapons and throwing out things like 'Surrender!" and 'Prepare the cannons!" When Britta finally stirs and stretches, yawning loudly as she strips down to her mismatched bikini - the top half is black and the bottom half is blue - they all start singing " _You can leave your hat on_ ," and only stop at the directness of her icy glare.

Jeff pretends to check his phone but really he's watching the patio door waiting for Annie to appear, and when she does, every muscle in him tenses. She’s carrying what…is that a baby? Oh yeah, he doesn’t care. It’s Annie. In. A. Bikini. A hot-pink polka dot bikini with skimpy ties looped and knotted at her hips – one tug and hello nakedness – and a halter top that is just…

Seriously, no wonder the kid likes her.

Jeff’s never seen so much of her uncovered and doesn’t know which part to study first. The world narrows to way she moves down the curving steps at the shallow end of the pool, the water kissing her legs. She seems to be talking – her mouth moves, there are words – but Jeff can’t hear anything but the racing of his heart.

It's becoming a problem.

Abed holds some kind of baby seat in the water as Annie lowers Ben inside and Ben slaps the water with tentative little fists, a huge slobbery grin on his face as he gets used to it, shrieking every once in a while. Shirley coos and takes pictures on her phone, and Britta stirs to join them and _Jesus,_ this is like the fucking Waltons.

“Hey perv, come and join us!” Britta shouts through cupped hands, loud enough that he jumps.

Jeff frowns and takes a long look around. “Are you talking to me or Pierce?”

“You’re the only one checking Annie out,” she challenges, more than a little smug, and Jeff knows this is probably payback for something.

All eyes snap to him. Shirley scowls, Pierce rolls his eyes and Annie squirms, fussing with the strap of her top like she doesn't know what else to do, and _shit…_ he walked right into that one.

“What makes you think-”

“Oh _please_ , you’re practically salivating.”

“Jeffrey!”

Abed nods. “It’s true.”

Pierce just shakes his head, almost disappointed. “So much to learn.”

“Guys!” Annie shouts then, startling everyone . “Jeff was looking at Ben because he’s cute, aren’t you? Yes, you are.” She tickles Ben’s chin and he giggles and slaps the water in excitement.

“Yeaaahhh…”

“Dude.” Troy shakes his head, slowly. “ _That_ was convincing.”

“Okay, here’s the thing...” Jeff starts, jumps up from the lounger and walks away.

Okay, so maybe there are still _some_ lines.

 

~x~

 

The rest of the week crawls by slowly and Jeff settles into a routine.

As soon as he gets home from work, he shucks off his shoes, loosens his tie and starts on the scotch. Some days he'll put some music on for background noise, other days he'll just sit on the sofa and stare at the wall.

Today, he’s spread out on the bed, fully clothed, drinking from the bottle and watching Beauty and the Beast - a Disney movie for fucks sake - when his phone rings. It takes him a couple of fumbles before he manages to snag his phone from his bedside table but when he does, he stares at her name flashing on the screen for longer than usual, his pulse racing a little.

He knows, realistically, he can’t avoid her forever. If only it was that simple.

Taking a deep breath, he presses the accept button and answers the call but doesn't speak. He's not sure what to say at this point.

“Jeff?" Her voice is soft and timid, though she sounds relieved. He supposes it's progress from just screening her calls. "Hey," she continues. "You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he says, as coolly as possible.

There’s a brief pause before she says, “Well, you sound weird and I haven’t seen you in four days.”

"I don't sound weird. You're weird. And wow. I must be a god if you miss me after four days.”

“Oh, you’re such a jerk!" Annie snaps then, and Jeff knows she'd be whacking him on the chest if she could. "If you just admitted you were checking me out, there wouldn’t be an issue," she carries on. "No one cares.”

“Really? So you wouldn’t take that admittance as a lead on?”

He really shouldn’t be having this conversation right now.

“Oh, you’d like to think so wouldn’t you? Get over yourself!”

Jeff sighs wearily. “I don’t know what I can tell you, Annie. I’m no good at words.”

At least, not when they count.

“Fine, I’m not wasting mine then,” she huffs and hangs up.

He’s doesn’t blame her. He’s pathetic really – walking out of a party because his friends knew he was drooling over the hot twenty-one year old. He’s not really sure why he can’t just admit out loud that he’s attracted to her and that yes, he would very much like to have sex with her please. They're friends, she's legal. What's really the issue here?

He makes a little "Psssh" sound at that, huffing a laugh as he tries to take a drink without sitting up and spilling some on his sheets in the process - not that it matters. He smells like a brewery anyway.

Later, as he weaves in and out of consciousness, he notices his phone lit brightly and vibrating with a text.

Annie.

 _I’ve thought about what you said &_ _you’re a liar. Words are your strength. I don’t understand why they fail around me._

Jeff reads the message until the words are imprinted in his memory, until he sees them lighted behind closed eyes. He’s impressed by her tenacity but also annoyed by it. If it was any other woman he wouldn’t have answered the phone. He never makes this much effort and wonders if she knows it and what that means.

By the time he wakes up the next morning, the bottle of scotch is dry on the pillow beside him and Jeff kind of wishes he was dead.

 

~x~

 

It takes another two days of senseless drinking before Jeff finds the courage to walk the two blocks to the library where Annie works. It’s not his style to admit he was wrong but it's such a stupid argument that he needs to make it up to her, if only to stop spending so much time thinking about stuff and drinking forty dollar bottles of scotch.

His liver is really not happy right now.

He finds her in the Law section, unsurprisingly, and wanders down the row of shelves lined with red leather-bound books. In the eerie stillness of the place, dust-glazed and damp, Annie looks up from her task and her expression of surprise quickly morphs into one of anger.

“What do you want?” she demands, and her tone is more than a little clipped.

“I wanted to see you," Jeff says. "It's been six days. That's a new record.”

“I wonder why.”

He fingers the collar of his shirt. “ _Yeah_ , about that…”

Annie slams shut a heavy book, releasing a spray of dust. “Whatever Jeff. I’m busy.”

"Yeah..." He glances around, nodding all the while. “I don’t know how you can move in here there are _so_ many people.”

She cuts him with a glare. “Do you think you can just Winger yourself out of this and I’d forgive you?”

“Wait, am I a verb now?”

“Things have changed, Jeff.” She slams another book. “I don’t know why I bother with you sometimes. I should just leave you to it.”

The thought of her leaving him alone, of _not_ bothering with him anymore has his stomach falling in actual panic and he bites out, “Jesus Annie, okay. I was checking you out at Pierce’s party. You looked really hot. Happy now?”

What the…what is wrong with him?

“I don’t care about that," she says, though her cheeks flush rosy red. "I care about the fact that it bothers you so much that you ignore me. I stupidly thought we were past this.” She looks at him properly then and her gaze narrows at the awkward way he's holding himself. “What are you hiding?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He fidgets a little, flush with nerves as he pulls the flowers from behind his back. Annie’s eyes bug wide and her breath catches in a barely audible gasp. “You know I said I’m not good with words?" he says. "Well, here.”

He passes her the bouquet of all the purple flowers the florist had, a mix of lilac and mauve, and she’s cautious and confused as she accepts it, her eyes glazed and fluttering, and anyone would think she's never been given flowers before.

“I don't understand. Why…?”

“Well, this flower says _I’m sorry_ , this one says _I’m an idiot_ and this one says _thanks, you know, for being my friend even after I’ve ignored you for six days_. You’re not going to cry are you?”

She sniffles slightly and shakes her head, gently rubbing the petals between her fingertips. “Me, cry? Never.”

Jeff laughs in a happy sort of relief and pulls her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head and sinking into her with eyes closed.

 

~x~

 

They make plans to go shopping.

For some reason Jeff’s a little nervous because it’s not lunch during work or an accidental meeting at the mall; it’s arranged with actual pick-up times and it all feels a little too much like a date, which it’s not, unless it’s a date disguised as a non-date.

Holy crap he knew relationships were complicated.

He’s still debating this when he pulls up outside her building but all thoughts disappear the moment he sees Annie and Troy on the sidewalk laughing as Abed does the robot. They bundle into his car, all talking at once and muttering their hellos, but Jeff can’t help feeling annoyed at the unexpected passengers in his backseat. He fiddles with the radio trying to dampen the hope he had to spend time with Annie alone, inexplicably feeling like he’s got six days to make up for.

Ridiculous.

“Gentleman.”

“Jeff.” They speak simultaneously again and Troy shakes his head with a heavy sigh.

“Dude, we’ve reached giant cookie levels of friendship again.”

Abed tilts his head, eyes glazing over like he's running through some really complicated mental theorem. “Agreed. Star Wars marathon first and then time apart?”

“Of course, man,” Troy smiles and they perform their handshake as best they can in the back of his car.

Jeff’s grip relaxes a little and he finally pulls away from the curb. “You guys aren’t shopping?”

“No," Troy says. "Annie said you wouldn’t mind dropping us off at the multiplex.”

“Is that right?”

"Yeah." Annie shrugs, not looking at him as she digs through her purse on her lap. “It’s on our way to the mall.”

“I might have taken a different route.”

“But you’re not, so I don’t know why we’re having this conversation.” She flips down the sun visor, using the small mirror there as she carefully applies her lip-gloss that smells like some kind of berry.

He smirks. “Wow, you’ve gotten bossy, Miss Bossy Boots.”

“ _That’s_ your best insult? Jeff, you’re losing it.”

“Hey-”

Troy coughs loudly and Jeff peers in his rear-view mirror to find him staring pointedly and Abed staring like, well, Abed. There's really not much to take from his expression.

“What?”

“Oh, so you know we’re here? I thought we’d turned invisible again.”

Jeff and Annie turn to each other, faces matching with smiley frowns. "Again?"

“You know, this smells like off-season development. You sound like a couple.”

“Yeah right!” Annie’s voice is a little high. “That’s funny, Abed.”

Jeff swallows hard. “Yeah, we could say the same about you, Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”

“Hey!” Troy folds his arms, pouting a little. “Abed and I can’t help if we share a bond too strong to destroy!”

“Yes, and Troy and I aren’t dating.”

Annie swivels in her seat, her fingers tight where she's clutching at the headrest. “We’re not dating!”

“Yeah, Abed. Sorry to disappoint but you’ve misjudged this one, buddy.”

Annie glances at him fleetingly and Jeff changes gear a little too hard.

“You’re right. People who date meet for lunch and speak on the phone every night and arrange to go to the mall together or buy each other flowers and then stare at said flowers for three minutes every day.”

Troy gasps, eyes widening slowly. “Abed, wait, that’s _exactly_ what they’ve been doing!”

“No, it isn’t!” Annie snaps, face flushed.

“Yeah, we don’t talk _every_ night, right?”

Annie nods in rapid agreement. “And we only meet for lunch when I work three days a…week,” she falters and frowns and turns to face the window.

“And those flowers were just an apology, " Jeff continues. "They were apology flowers!”

Abed starts drumming a beat on his knees. “Uh-huh.”

“I think you’re forgetting one important detail, Abed.”

“Impossible but I’ll hear it.”

“Dating means fooling around and Annie and I are _not_ doing that so there goes your theory,” he says with a smirk.

Abed seems to ponder this. “Yet," he says finally. "You’re not doing that _yet_.”

The car goes silent then and Jeff glances at Annie as she stares out of the window. Her jaw is clenched and she's fussing with her skirt the way she does when she's nervous or agitated, and all the anticipation he was feeling for the day ahead suddenly twists into a deep sickness in the pit of his stomach and he just doesn't know what to do.

“So," he says instead. "What’s this about a Star Wars marathon?”

 

~x~

 

It's nearing the end of August but the air is hot and the sky is still that unmarred cloudless blue when Jeff takes a walk in the park at lunch, needing to escape the four walls of his office narrowing by the day. There's an ache in his shoulders and a sharpness in his neck that won't leave no matter how much he rolls them, and everything about work is not what he remembers and this powers his strides with a force he didn’t know he had.

Navigating through a group of teenagers eating ice creams on their bikes, Jeff turns the corner of the path, kicking the gravel with a bit more strength than intended, when he spots Annie spread out on her stomach on a blanket and reading a book. She's smiling, twirling the ends of her hair after she's turned a page, her toes curling into the grass. She looks so absorbed in her own little world, so carefree, that he's almost hesitant to disturb her, but the tight coil pressured within him slowly starts to unwind just at the sight of her, and he couldn't stop the direction of his feet even if he wanted to - seemingly drawn to her like a magnet.

“Milady.”

Annie’s startled enough that she drops her book and pushes herself up onto her knees, providing him with a generous view of her cleavage from where he's standing above her.

“Jeff! What are…?” Her eyes narrow as she takes him in. “Is something wrong?”

Jeff shakes his head with a laugh because _of course_ Annie would notice. “I’m having a bad day, Annie. I forgot how demanding work can be.”

“Oh no. Stress headache?”

He can’t help but smile. “Worse. Stressed everything.”

She studies his face, like she's sizing him up, and pats the blanket. “Come sit here.”

“Um…” His gaze wanders to every corner of the park, everywhere but where her soft hand is telling him to go. He thinks about the list of excuses he has ready for situations such as these - _Not now Annie, I'm late, I've gotta go, I'm busy_ \- but then he remembers the office and the walls and everything that led him here and...

 _Fuck it_.

“Okay. Why not?”

Being 6ft 4, it’s awkward for him to sit comfortably on a blanket whilst maintaining his air of cool, and part of that is probably to do with the woman next to him. But he does it anyway because, well, she asked.

“So," she starts, smiling. "Alan?”

He huffs out a laugh. “How did you guess?”

“Well, you mentioned Alan a few weeks ago so it wasn't that difficult to deduce. Besides, I used to go to NA meetings with him, remember? The things he talked about still irritate me.”

Jeff grins widely, feeling the tension of the morning chip away as he closes his eyes and tilts his head to the sun, letting the warmth coat him. Annie shifts on her knees and his smile fades when she moves behind him, hands gripping his shoulders. 

Every muscle clenches tight.

“Annie," he says carefully, a note of warning in his voice. "What are you doing?”

“I’m giving you a massage.”

He can practically hear the _duh-doy_ in her voice. “Um…”

Her fingers tread the length of his neck and his head rolls to one side of its own accord. The sounds of traffic and kids playing in the distance fades away, sealing them in a hot silence of breaths and the soft swish of her skin against his as she moves past his ear, pressing her thumb there. Slowly she inches her palms down to his shoulders, kneading lightly, and he feels the heat of her through his shirt.

He’s not sure but he thinks…. _thinks…_ he moaned out loud.

“Ouch.” She eases one tight knot with slow circles of her thumb. “You’re lucky I was here.”

Mouth dry, his voice is a pitch too high. “Yeah, why’s that?”

“I wouldn’t do this for just anyone.”

“Well, I hope not.”

Her fingers stop abruptly. Her position is such that her breasts are pressed against his shoulder but Jeff tries not to think about that when he turns his head, finding her looking at him intently, a tiny frown creasing her brow.

He swallows hard at the memory of them in a similar stance in the study room when they first studied for debate. Except this time he’s not that terrified and she’s not that naïve and really, this isn’t all that unexpected. Her eyes are all too hypnotic and there’s that magnet again; she’s the positive end and he’s the negative, always negative, and he cannot stop the fusion of their hands. With one tug she lands sideways in his lap, and how good she feels is undeniable.

His heart is rapid and hers is too as he cups her cheek to pull her to his lips. She meets them willingly and all he can think is natural bubble-gum softness and _holy crap_ as their tongues touch in a hot wet tangle. She moans into his mouth and sucks on his tongue and it is all he can do not to throw her down on the blanket and do things to her, many adult things.

He’s lost in her at this point, all thoughts Annie, her hot mouth, soft thighs, firm hips, and he trails one hand up her ribcage and _dammit…_ why has she pulled away? He opens his eyes, hazy and unfocused, and sees her wipe her lips before struggling to her feet. His lust is so thick and present he almost chokes on it.

“I…” he starts, at a complete loss at what to say as he shakes his head hoping to disturb the thoughts of arousal and Annie that have taken up permanent residence in his brain. "I..."

“It’s okay, Jeff," Annie says brightly - too brightly. "You don’t have to say anything.”

She’s brushing her hands along her body as if she’s dusting off dirt - impossible because they’re on a blanket on the grass for Christ’s sake - and then he realizes that she’s trying to get rid of his touch because, let’s face it, he pretty much just branded her back there.

“But…”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me it was a mistake. People make them all the time and we’re people, right? And you can save the chat about discretion. That was awkward enough the first time.”

Shit.

Her eyes are wild, lips plump and red from his kisses and she looks so fucking good right now.

Jeff jumps to his feet and straightens his tie. “Well, we are definitely people.”

Annie nods and shoots her gaze to the grass and he needs to leave now because she’s too tempting all rumpled from his kiss, and he can still taste her on his lips and he has the resounding startling thought that, no, actually, that didn’t feel like a mistake. At all.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Look, I really have to get back to work but I’ll see you later, for movie night?”

Her mouth opens but she doesn't speak, just nods her head distractedly. Her gaze is full of questions but there’s no sign of hurt and that is the only reason he doesn’t feel guilty turning away.

He walks along the grass back to the main path, glancing back once to find her staring into space looking just as dazed as he feels. _  
_

 

~x~

 

The group, minus Shirley, are halfway through John Hughes movie night. Troy and Abed sit in their usual recliners whilst Britta balances on Troy’s armrest. Pierce is stretched out on the loveseat, snoring softly.

Jeff and Annie sit together on the inflatable couch that Troy and Abed keep hidden away for seating emergencies. Typically on movie night, they sort of relax into one another, hands meeting in the bowl of popcorn every now and then, knees pushed into thighs. But since their encounter earlier, where Jeff re-learned the delicious pattern of Annie’s tongue and how good her hands felt against him, there’s an underlying tension between them growing steadily the longer they try to ignore it.

Now every time one of them moves, the couch squeaks and Abed shushes them and Britta turns with a suspicious gaze like an overbearing mother and really, the whole thing is a joke. He’s thirty-five and he’s sat on a pink inflatable couch, rigid and unsure like some horny teenager.

It doesn't help that he can’t stop replaying their kiss, stealing his attention and focus from depositions all day and seriously, it was fucking hot.

He’s aware that they need to talk and Annie is too, having caught her sneaking glances and how they fell into that old pattern as she greeted him at the door, not knowing whether to hug or pat or run away. In the end he hugged her _–_ he can’t pat her anymore, he just can’t.

 _The Breakfast Club_ plays loudly and Molly Ringwald is doing something with her breasts and a lipstick and Jeff thinks _fuck it_ …and digs around for his phone, trying to make as little noise as possible. It isn’t long until Annie’s phone chimes but it’s in her room and she frowns back at her door.

Slowly she rises, whisper-shouting an apology to Abed for the noise, and wanders into her bedroom. In the minutes she’s gone Jeff’s unable to stop the tap of his foot as it rests against the opposite knee. He’s never been this nervous before, especially not where a woman is concerned, and the thought freaks him out enough that if he had the chance to speak he’s pretty sure he’d be Goldbluming right now.

A few more minutes go by and Annie finally reappears holding her purse.

“Um, I’m in the mood for ice cream so I thought I’d walk to the 7-Eleven.” Everyone makes noises of agreement. “Jeff, would you walk with me? It’s late and I-”

“Let’s go.” He jumps up as quickly as an inflatable couch allows, which is not quick. At all.

As they exit the building the night air is a cold surprise that breaks the tense silence that had followed them down three flights of stairs. The streets are quiet except for the sound of a garbage can scraping metal on the sidewalk, the random screech of a startled cat.

Jeff turns to Annie as she huddles into her cardigan. She smiles but there’s a wariness that makes his chest feel strange.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He studies her face but she's really closed off and not giving anything away, so he clears his throat, preparing himself. “So…we should probably talk.”

“Probably,” she says, and starts to walk ahead and Jeff frowns at her back as the darkness folds itself around her and carries her away. It takes a few seconds for him to catch up and when he does Annie says, “So, do you want Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby or Cookie Dough?”

“Okay, so we’re really going to get ice cream?” Jeff double checks because this all feels like some sort of test right now and what's happening?

“Of course," Annie says, a little dismissively. "I said I wanted ice cream so we’re going to get some. It would look suspicious if we came back without any. And we wouldn’t want that.”

“Are we still talking about ice cream or something else?”

Her chin lifts considerably. “I don’t know what you mean.”

When her footsteps quicken Jeff tugs on her arm, pulling her to a stop to face him. “Annie, you always know what I mean.”

“Yeah, sure, because you’re the master of saying what you mean!”

“Whoa! Hold up. Tell me, was I not the one who just texted you to talk?”

“Well, yes.”

“And did I not just _say_ that we should talk?”

Her lips pinch to pout. “Yes.”

“Exactly.” With lengthy strides he leaves her behind, a smirk playing with his lips as he finally hears her gasp and hurry up behind him, snapping at his heels.

“Just because you have intentions to talk now, doesn’t excuse all your previous non-talking type behavior, like, _oh_ , I don’t know, non-conversations in men’s bathrooms and leaving me standing alone in the middle of the park!”

He palms the scruff of his jawline. “I know and I’m sorry. But we should talk now, about earlier.”

She flicks her hair over one shoulder. “Okay, so talk.”

“Well, I…”

“See," she laughs, shaking her head all the while. "You’re so full of shit sometimes, Jeff. You don’t even know what to say.”

“Annie! You just said shit.”

“I know, shocking isn’t it? Annie Edison says a curse word.” She throws her arms wild. “Alert the media!”

He can’t help but laugh and she does too, reluctantly. “Sorry," he says, his laughter falling away finally. "It’s just unexpected. You always surprise me.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, it is.” Her features tighten and he hurries to continue. “Not _bad_ bad but, you know, just when I have you figured out you do something to change all that and I have to start all over again. It’s a lot of work.”

“Oh, sorry, I know how much you hate to work.”

“Yikes. You’re on fire tonight, Edison.”

The careless shrug of her shoulders can’t disguise the smug smile on her face and Jeff’s lips twitch upwards.

“Why did you kiss me, Jeff?”

Damn, she knows how to blindside a guy.

“Because I…”

Because he wanted to, because he wants her, because he just couldn’t help himself. The words are on his tongue but would she just accept them and let him do it again, no questions asked? Doubtful. Annie deserves more, much more than he’s capable of giving.

“Oh look," Annie says with a sad little sigh. "There go your words again.”

"Annie, I-"

The darkness of the night starts to fade as they reach the brightly lit forecourt of the 7-Eleven. The door slides open with a burst of cooler air and Annie shivers as she makes her way to the freezers. Her lips are puckered in thought as he approaches.

“Anything but Chubby Hubby.”

She jumps at his closeness. “O-kay. Cookie Dough it is,” she says, and reaches for a couple of tubs.

After she's paid, they walk back into the night in an odd sort of silence, the plastic carrier fluttering in the breeze. Jeff glances over, trying to decipher her mood, trying to figure out what she's thinking when she starts nodding to herself like she does when she's determined about something or gearing herself up.

“Jeff," she starts then, and something in her voice has him tensing slightly. "I have something to say. Our kiss, this afternoon? Well, it was nice but I think we should just forget it happened.”

His heart races hard because fuck, when she goes for something, she really goes for it. “Is that what you want?”

She swallows before nodding decisively, and if he didn't know any better he'd think she was trying to convince herself, although that doesn't seem possible. “I think it’s for the best,” she admits quietly.

“I didn’t ask you if you thought it was for the best, I asked if that’s what you really want. There's a difference.”

As they reach the entrance to the building, Annie turns to him. “The last time we kissed you ignored me for three months and our friendship took a while to recover. I don’t want that to happen again. So I think we should classify our kiss as a mistake that sometimes happens between friends and just forget it.”

Jeff stares at her dazedly, lost for words – a fallacy itself considering words are his superpower, most of the time. She’s not looking at him, instead studying the sidewalk like it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

He takes a deep breath and blows it out, resigned and, strangely, a little sad. “I don’t want to lose you either, so…whatever you want, Annie.”

Their eyes lock and hold then, and for just a moment Jeff feels lost in them, completely adrift, and maybe she does too. _Maybe_.

Annie clears her throat and looks away. “Right, we better get upstairs before this ice cream melts.”

“That’ll never happen while you’re around. Remember?”

She returns his smile wistfully. “I remember everything.” 


	4. September 2012

**_September 2012_ **

 

When the fall semester rolls around, the group realize their final year means they have to do something they rarely do: study. Annie is tougher than usual, demanding a strict timetable of revision combined with 90 second study breaks. Everyone groans at her focus, Jeff included, but he also thinks it’s kind of cute.

Since last month, things had been semi-awkward between himself and Annie, and hanging out together had fallen slightly by the wayside. While their habit of talking and texting had not really changed - maybe it _had_ lessened slightly - there was still an awareness between them that giving each other space was probably for the best.

But he’s kind of missed her, if he lets himself think about it – and thoughts of their kiss still lingered like a thick dust – but he reasons that you don’t go from seeing someone daily to very little contact and not have some residual opinions on the matter. It's an adjustment period.

Soon though, the summer feels like a distant dream and with the flurry of school activity, new classes and group adventures, the dust settles and everything feels normal.

Well, as normal as life at Greendale can be. 

 

~x~

 

After his last class of a pretty long day - he's been on campus since before nine that morning - Jeff's pretty eager to head home for a drink and maybe chill out in front of the TV. He heads across the quad to his car, powered by thoughts of an iced cold beer followed by a much-needed nap, when Annie appears beside him. She’s reading from a huge folder as she walks, talking rapidly to herself over and over like she's memorizing something, and barely drawing breath.

It takes Jeff a minute to realize she has no idea he’s even there which actually, stupidly, stings a little.

He walks alongside her for a moment, listening to her random babble, before waving a hand in front of her face. She swats it away aimlessly, not even looking away from whatever she's reading.

“Annie?   _Annie_.” He leans toward her ear and shouts, “ANNIE!”

She stumbles briefly, clutching at the folder desperately before righting herself. “Oh, hi Jeff.”

Barely giving him a second glance, Annie continues on her mindless ramble, her speed quickening somehow, and Jeff tugs on her arm to pull her to a stop, pretty concerned by her frazzled state.

“Whoa," he says. "Slow down.”

“There’s no time to slow down, Jeff. No time at all.”

“Okay, I’m not practiced in the art of crazy. You’ll have to talk me through it.”

Annie looks at him as though he’s a fly she can’t wait to swat. “Oh, I guess I imagined that time you attacked our table with an axe, huh? If that's not crazy I don't know what is.”

He grins at that. “While you make very good points, Miss Edison, your argument has one major flaw.”

“Oh, what's that?”

“I was under the influence of monkey gas, therefore I wasn’t truly crazy.”

She rolls her eyes at him, the way she always does when he tries to bullshit his way out of something. “Psssh. Whatever you say, _Mr Winger_.”

“You, on the other hand, are clearly a little….” He winds his finger in a circular motion by his temple.

She gasps. “I am not crazy!”

Jeff lets his eyes trail the length of her body, lingering in a few places here and there. “ _Yeah_ , all that talking to yourself and the wrongly buttoned cardigan, as well as the pencils in your hair completely disproves your theory. You even have a post-it stuck to your skirt.”

“What?” She glances down and squeaks at the sight of the yellow sticker on the side of her skirt, peeling it away and scrunching it in a tight fist. She stares confusedly at a pencil Jeff removes from her hair, like she can't even remember how it got there in the first place, and her shoulders slouch with a heavy sigh.

“I’m freaking out aren’t I?” she asks, cringing and closing her eyes for a moment.

"Just a little." He smiles softly. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the LSATs! They’re only a month away, Jeff. And then I need to finish my personal statement, as well as update my resume and this is all on top of regular deadlines. I can’t even…what am I supposed to do?”

Jeff snatches the folder out of her hands, ignoring the squeak of protest, and tucks it under his arm. “You study and then have a break, preferably longer than 90 seconds. Come on. Let’s go get a drink.”

Annie makes a lunge for the folder but Jeff launches it high above his head. “Jeff! Give it back.”

“Nuh-uh. Noooo.”

She jumps up, stretching for his hand but Jeff is too tall and she’s too small and the whole scene is so ridiculous he laughs. Annie stops, breathless, and folds her arms tight across her chest before a smile teases her lips and inches wide.

“Okay, point proved. You’re tall, I’m not. Well done. Now can I have my folder back, _please_?”

Her eyelashes flutter and damn, she’s good at this.

“Nope, Disney face doesn’t work on me anymore. I spent six days this summer watching every Disney film known to man. I’m immune. Seriously, you could sing right now and all the animals could crawl out from the forest to join you and it would have no effect on me whatsoever.”

She laughs. “Oh, is that right? I didn’t realize my face had such an effect on you. I should have used my power more often.”

“I think you used it plenty, Annie.”

“Oh no. I didn’t get my own way nearly as much as I wanted.”

He smirks. “Really?”

“Mmm hmm.” She nods, a cheeky smile grazing her face. “Right, well, clearly I have to try a new tactic.”

“You do realize I could just pick you up and put you in my pocket, right?”

Her eyes gleam wild, and she fastens her hands on her hips like she means business now. “Are you really going to mess with me?”

“Maybe," Jeff says with a shrug. "If it will get you to calm down and stop thinking about the LSATs, sure.”

She eyes him thoughtfully, one finger tapping her chin, before she shrugs off her backpack. Jeff follows her with a frown as she circles his body like prey and he’s clueless to her intentions until he feels her arms around his neck as she tackles him from behind and jumps on his back.

“What the hell…?”

Annie Edison is climbing him like a tree.

Her legs tighten around his waist as she stretches for the lengthy branch of his arm high in the air. Jeff’s heart quickens at all this close proximity and he leans forward in attempt to get her off – as though she was a cat – but she clamps her thighs tighter. Jeff instinctively grabs her leg to pry it off and as they wrestle he realizes how they must look and she does too and soon they’re vibrating with laughter that he feels all the way through his chest.

“ _A-ha!_ Got it!”

Annie clutches the folder in her hands like a prize, sliding down his back to the ground, and straightens her clothes.

“That was….” He shakes his head, still snickering. “Impressive.”

She smiles and bows, a little breathless still. “Thanks!”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t do _this_ again.” Once more he tugs the folder out of her grasp, her grip so tight he pulls her with it and she stumbles into his chest, nose first.

“Ow!" She rubs and clutches at her nose and her voice is close to whiny when she says, "Jeff, I need to study!”

“You need to chill out. It’s September. You shouldn’t be this stressed at the start of semester. You'll burn yourself out if you're not careful.”

Annie picks up her backpack with a heavy sigh. “I know but it’s a month till the LSATs and I need – no, I want - to pass. I feel like I’ve found something that finally fits me, you know?”

He nods because boy, does he know that feeling.

“Annie, you’ll pass. Jesus, you’re already a better lawyer than half the guys at my old firm and you haven’t even been to Law School yet. Trust me.”

“Really?” she asks, and the doubt in her voice genuinely surprises him.

“Yes.” He holds her gaze until he sees the acknowledgment in her eyes and the smile on her lips. “Now, how about that drink? I’ll even buy you one of those sugary cherry cokes you like so much, you know, because I’m nice like that.”

She smiles and links her arm through his, resting her cheek against his upper arm as they walk, and Jeff suddenly feels happy and kind of proud that _he_ managed to calm her down.

“What about the threat of diabetes you’re always warning me about?”

“Well, you can worry about that and _this_ …” He wiggles her folder. “Tomorrow. Deal?”

“Deal.”

 

~x~

 

A week later the group go bowling to celebrate Britta acing her first Psych test of the semester, well, her first test ever.  _“I got 75 guys, a 75! Does this mean I’m Annie now?”_

As they pile into Shirley’s minivan, Abed starts a lengthy discussion about TV tropes and tells them that a sports episode usually results in a man facing humiliation when a woman beats them at a game. It’s not long before he demands a male/female pairing policy, and by the time Shirley pulls into the parking lot at Greendale’s Bowling Alley twenty minutes later, Shirley is paired with Troy,  _“Because they never have storylines together,”_  Annie is with Abed and Britta with Jeff.

“What about me?” Pierce asks from the back of the minivan.

Abed blinks at him. “Oh, you’re like Chandler in Friends. You’re a dropper. You can sit one out.”

“I’d never drop my balls, A-bed.” The group all groan in varying levels of disgust. “What?" he asks with a shrug. "It came up organically.”

Jeff really isn’t a bowling kind of guy and once inside, he immediately regrets his decision to join the group outing when he eyes the bowling shoes that have graced a million other feet.

“What a surprise…” Annie says, smiling and shaking her head at the sight of him holding the bowling shoes in a disgusted pinch.

“Annie, these are not worthy enough for my perfect feet.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re just worried about how you’ll look without your designer boots on. Look around, Jeff. We’re all wearing the same. No one cares. Let loose. Loosey goosey,” she says, flapping her arms and twisting her hips in a little jig that shouldn't be sexy but totally is.

It’s like she can read his damn mind.

“I can think of much better ways to _let loose_ than stick my feet into stinky clown shoes.” He sniffs the shoes again and pulls away sharply, gagging a little. “Nope. I can’t do it.”

“More like _won’t_ do it because you’re afraid Britta will beat you.”

He scoffs. “She can try but she will fail.”

“Prove it.”

The fire in her eyes and determined stance of her hands on her hips is a kick to his system.

“Oh, I can rise to the challenge, Annie. You’ll see.”

“I look forward to it,” she says with finality and a flirty little smile.

Her hair swirls as she spins and prances over to Abed, grasping his hand to lead him to one of the free lanes. Jeff’s jaw clenches at that and he forces the shoes on with a grimace and _oh my God did she do that on purpose because that totally worked_. He joins Britta as she awkwardly picks up a bowling ball and nearly drops it. Jeff bats Annie a challenging smile and the little minx throws it back and just like that, this game is on.

Although Abed bemoans the lack of an appropriate soundtrack - cheesy disco music is all wrong for the atmosphere he's trying to achieve, apparently - everyone is pretty competitive with both Annie and Shirley proving his theory correct, although neither Troy nor Abed look particularly humiliated by their loss. Britta, on the other hand, fails miserably and every time her ball rolls off to the side and she squawks at the injustice of it all, Jeff and Annie’s gazes meet and clash; his smug and hers a cheeky smile.

After they've finished their first game and Shirley and Troy have returned with trays of cheese nachos and a round of drinks, Abed draws the fun to a halt.

“Wait," he says. "It’s time to switch up these pairings. Shirley you’re with Pierce, Britta with Troy, Annie with Jeff. Oh, and instead of playing against each other, I want to see teamwork. Let's do this people.”

“Abed, sweetie," Britta says softly, rubbing his arm. "You’re not actually a director.”

"I know," he says to her face, but then mumbles low, “That’s what _you_ think,” when she turns away.

“Abed!” Annie huffs. “Why are you changing the rules now?”

“Just experimenting with the plot.”

Jeff bumps Annie’s shoulders. “Hey, why so annoyed? Now you don’t have to lose…to me.”

“I’m annoyed because I didn’t get the chance to beat you.”

“As if that would ever happen, Annie. Come on.”

She tilts her head. “Huh. I guess you’ve forgotten about me kicking your ass at that game on your Xbox…”

He stifles a grin and shrugs. “Beginners luck.”

She squares her jaw and starts mouthing with her hands. “You speak but all I hear is blah blah arrogant blah.”

Jeff chuckles, holding her gaze all fiery and intense and he's kicked by a surge of arousal and how hot she looks when she's forceful and fighting for her cause. 

“Why don’t we pause this for another time and channel our competitiveness to beat _those_ guys.” He points to their friends changing their score cards. “Come on Annie, you can almost taste the victory…”

Her eyes twinkle in the low light as she sizes him up. “Okay," she concedes after a long moment. "But this isn’t over. I demand a rematch and I’ll show you how much it _wasn’t_ beginners luck!”

“I look forward to it.”

Annie bounces over to the score screen to add her name. “Oooh, we should have our own handshake or fist bump every time we strike!”

“Let’s win first and figure out how to celebrate later.”

Six frames in, Jeff and Annie are leading, with Shirley and Pierce second. Troy and Britta bicker and bond over their lack of bowling skill, while Abed sits on a plastic seat watching everything with what looks like absolute content. Every time either one of them gets a strike Annie leaps, punching air, and bounces excitedly on foot and Jeff finds himself swept away by her excitement, fisting the air and grinning like an idiot. 

By the end of the eighth frame, Annie notices him staring a bit longer than necessary and eyes him nervously. “What?” Her hand hovers a little hesitantly against her cheek. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, it’s just nice seeing you relaxed and having fun.”

“Hey! I can be fun.”

“I know. It’s just you’ve been so stressed recently I was starting to worry. I guess I’m happy seeing you happy.” His eyes snap shut for a second. “Oh God, that was cheesy. Kill me, just kill me now.”

Seriously, why wasn’t the ground opening up and swallowing him whole?

Annie laughs and bumps his arm, and the gesture makes him feel less like a bumbling idiot, if only for a moment.

“No it wasn’t, it was lovely. You used your words.” His eyebrows raise at that because that goes back to a whole other issue, and Annie flushes, adding, “I like seeing you like this too. When you loosen up and stop caring what people think of you, we kick everyone’s butt.”

“Yeah, we make a pretty good team.”

“Like a perfect duet?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” he says, his grin as wicked as it's ever been. 

 

~x~

 

While most people treat their bodies like trash, Jeff treats his like a temple. Intake of scotch aside, he keeps his calories controlled, eats five fruits and vegetables per day, and works out daily - religiously even. So when he wakes up one morning with a stuffed nose, wheezing chest and scratchy throat, he can’t help but think life just isn’t fair.

He's shivery and hot, can barely lift his head from the pillow and every muscle in him aches, but he knows the group have a diorama to finish, so he forces himself out of bed. Arriving in the study room an hour or so later, Jeff slumps wearily, unable to stop the descent of his head to the table and he has a fleeting, ridiculous wish for his mom.

_What is he, five?_

“Jeff, are you okay?”

He rolls his head sideways but even that hurts so he groans a little. “No, Annie, I feel like the crap of crap on crap. I blame you for this.”

"Me?" she gasps. _“_ Why? I’ve not been sick.”

“You made me wear those stupid smelly bowling shoes last week. It was the shoes. I caught something from the shoes.”

She snaps her arms across her chest. “Oh, don’t be so ridiculous.”

He groans again and sneezes, the loudness making Shirley jump in her seat.

“Oh, Jeffrey!” she says, in a sweet motherly tone. “You should go home pumpkin. Get some rest.”

Pierce just rolls his eyes. “Real men don’t get sick, Winger.”

“Hmm.” Britta leans back in her chair, folding her arms slowly as she studies him. “This is probably another excuse to get out of helping with the diorama.”

Jeff mumbles obscenities into the desk.

“Well, if you’re really sick, you should go home but if you’re lying, I hope you choke on a pretzel.”

“I don’t eat pretzels, Britta.” His voice is gravely, nose blocked, and he has to close his eyes against the brightness of the harsh study room lights.

“Well, I’ll buy you one and then you can choke on it.”

Annie gasps. “Britta!”

“Oh, come on. He's done this before. Don’t you remember that lie he told to get out of helping you move?”

“Oh, yeah.” Annie's quiet now, frowning at the table. "I forgot about that."

“Hey! I said I was sorry for -” His sentence trails off into huge racking coughs that make the muscles running down his sides twinge and ache. When he’s finished he wipes his palms down his jeans and makes a mental note to buy tissues.

The group stares at him with wrinkled faces of disgust, all of their chairs now pushed far from the table.

“Yeah…” Troy says. “He’s sick.”

With a low and drawn out moan, Jeff presses his cheek back on the table, closing his from the blinding lights again. He's pretty sure they're getting brighter somehow. He's about to complain when he feels a soft cooling palm against his forehead and opens one eye to see Annie leaning across the table.

“Jeff, go home, you’ve got a temperature.” She eases back into her seat and starts digging around in her backpack, pulling out a small bottle of hand sanitizer. “I don’t want your germs, not with the tests coming up. I need to be healthy and on my A-game.” 

“An-nie!” Shirley gasps in shock and maybe a little disappointment.

“Obviously I want Jeff to get better too…” Annie adds hurriedly, flushing slightly. “Make sure you drink plenty of fluids.”

Abed’s eyes widen then. “Hawkeye is sick and Hot Lips is a nurse. It just writes itself.”

“A-bed, why are you talking about M*A*S*H? Is that still on the air?” Pierce glances around the table. “I mean, of course it’s still on the air, I knew that.”

“It’s an on-going theme we have at the newspaper. Jeff is Hawkeye, Annie is Hot Lips.”

“You guys are still on the newspaper?” Shirley frowns. “You never mention it.”

“It’s because there’s no relevance to our usual storylines. Now, back to Hot Lips…”

Annie toys with her pen. “Abed, I’m not Hot Lips.”

Hmm. Jeff heartily objects to that statement. He could prove otherwise in court too. He’ll just need Annie for a personal in-depth demonstration…no, stop…Oh what the hell, he’s sick, he’ll let himself have this one.

“No, she is not,” Britta says firmly, with a flap of her arms that narrowly miss his head. “That is so sexist, talk about the degradation of -”

The group groans and Britta scowls and pouts sourly as she slumps back in her seat.

Abed points one finger ceiling-bound. “I need to include this in the Community College Chronicles, although I couldn’t predict this so it will be a week late. Spoiler alert.”

Jeff sneezes and sniffs against his knuckles. “I’m glad my sickness is providing you with writing material, Abed.”

“Me too, Jeff. Me too.”

 

~x~

 

Later Jeff is sprawled in bed, sheets discarded in a lumpy pile where he'd kicked them in frustration, his shirt on the floor and a sheen of sweat on his torso. He considers going to the pharmacy but he’s struggling to stand and everything is sort of pulsing in his head, and he has to beat the thought that he kind of wishes he had someone to go for him. He supposes he could call, they wouldn’t mind. He is God-like and the group practically worship the ground he walks on.

No. He needs to pull himself together. He doesn’t need anyone. He’s Jeff Winger, lone wolf.

Just as he wonders if it’s possible to burst a blood vessel by blowing your nose, there’s a knock at the door. He’s afraid to answer it, worried that Troy and Abed are out there dressed like Doctors and he just can’t be bothered today. He can't be bothered on the best of days, either, but that's neither here nor there.

Still, he rolls out of bed, mindful of the infection pulsing behind his ears and swaying his balance, and pads slowly to the door. In his daze he forgets to check the peephole and blinks in surprise when he opens the door to find Annie gazing up at him with a bright efficient smile.

“Annie?” He coughs and splutters into his fist and holy crap, he feels like shit.

Her eyes drop to his chest, briefly, and that action alone perks Jeff more than she’ll ever know. Annie walks inside, dumping her purse and carrier bag on the floor. She pauses for a moment and seems to take a deep breath before her hands settle on the buttons of her coat, strangely closed all the way to her neck.

When she unbuttons finally and hooks it over the coat rack, Jeff thinks he might pass out and he can’t blame the fever. Not now. Not with...this...

“Whaaaat…”

Annie bounces on her feet and looks at him with nervous eyes. “Too much?” she asks, wincing a little.

Jeff shakes his head almost robotically, eyes trailing the short white dress unbuttoned to her cleavage, and he's honestly having trouble even thinking right now. “Um…”

“Oh wait, I forgot!” She bends over to rifle through her purse and _holy shit_ she’s wiggling her perfect ass in front of him and Jeff is aware that if he wasn’t sick right now, he would probably ravish her, just rip off the outfit and throw her down and just go for it. Hundred percent.

From her purse Annie pulls out a little white hat with a red cross on the front and settles it on her head. “Abed said this would make it authentic,” she says, like that makes all the difference.

“Abed put you up to this?”

My god she was confusing him – wanting to forget their kiss last month and now turning up at his apartment dressed like this…though, honestly, Annie Edison can confuse him all she likes, anytime she wants, over and over...

Annie nods. “After study group he got really into the idea of filming a hospital scene so I’ve been playing Doctors and Nurses all afternoon.”

“Really?” He smirks.

Her cheeks flood with color. “Oh, hush. Not like that! It was purely professional. Even Britta got dragged into it, although she blathered on about reinforced gender roles and demanded to be a Doctor, so Troy was the other nurse.” She giggles at the memory. “But I was coming to check on you anyway and Abed said that I should come like this, even though it was a cliché, and I thought, what the hell. So I didn't bother changing.”

As she starts fussing with the hem of her dress, Jeff wonders if he should buy Abed a gift. Maybe a new box set of DVDs or a signed poster of his favorite actor…anything to show his appreciation.

“Well, I’m…speechless,” he says.

Annie beams and nods in accomplishment and Jeff momentarily forgets that he feels like trash.

“I’m not Hot Lips but will Nurse Edison do?” she says with a laugh.

Jeff smiles wide. “She’ll more than do.”

Her gaze flutters quickly to the carrier bag at her feet, suddenly remembering the real reason why she's there, and she rifles through it. “I wasn’t sure of your diagnosis so I picked up painkillers, decongestants, cough syrup and tissues. They're even the balm ones so they'll be softer on your nose. Oh, and I know you say orange juice has too much sugar but you need your vitamin C.” She pulls out a plastic container. “Shirley made you chicken soup too.”

“I have the best friends,” Jeff says, shaking his head a little, though he immediately regrets it as he sways slightly.

“Nice to hear you admit it.” She reaches up on tiptoes to rest the back of her hand against his forehead. “Right, let’s get you to bed, mister.”

Jeff groans. “Annie, you can’t say things like that to me, dressed like that, when I’m feeling this ill.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve already got a fever and if I get any hotter, you might actually kill me.”

Her eyes widen. “Jeff!”

“What? I can’t help it. I’m delirious with infection.”

She rolls her eyes and pushes him into his bedroom, her soft hands cool against his burning skin makes him shiver slightly. He settles on the bed as she wanders into his bathroom, returning a moment later with a wet washcloth to fold against his forehead.

“Mmm. That’s nice.”

“Okay, Shirley,” she teases.

“I’d think of some clever retort but I’m too sick.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

She wanders off into the living room, returns with the carrier bag and starts to line up his medicines on the bedside table, opening the box of tissues so they're ready when he needs them.

“Annie?” he asks, and she hums her response. “Why are you here?”

"Isn't that obvious?" she says.

"I meant, why are you really here?"

She sighs then. “Well, I felt really guilty for what I said earlier, you know, getting you to leave because I didn’t want to get sick. It was selfish of me and I'm sorry.”

“Hey, self-preservation isn’t selfish.” She looks at him with narrowed eyes and a "Yeah right!" expression and Jeff smiles. “Okay, okay, but I don’t hold it against you. You’ve got a lot going on, I get it.”

“I’m glad, though I am really sorry.”

“And what about the outfit?" he asks quietly, because he has to at this point. He _has_ to know. "Why did you wear that?”

Annie twists her hands together and she opens and closes her mouth a couple of times before committing to an answer. “Yeah, I, uh...I just thought it might make you feel better.” She cringes at that, face flushed. “Sorry, I know that doesn’t sound too good on my part after everything I said and I genuinely only realized the implications as I was waiting for you to answer your door and -”

He laughs, though he thinks she might be lying; Annie’s not naive to what her nurse outfit would do to a straight, virile horny man such as himself and it's obvious how much he's attracted to her.

“Hey, it’s okay, it did make me feel better so, mission accomplished.”

Meeting his smile she hovers by the side of the mattress, her fingers toying with the sheet, hesitation biting her shiny lower lip. “I just…I also came because I know how lonely it is when you’re sick and you just want someone to take care of you, no matter how strong you are. We all need someone to look after us sometimes, even you Jeff Winger.”

Jeff feels warm for reasons beyond his fever now and catches her wrist as she turns away, feels the flutter of her pulse. “You’re amazing, Annie. Thank you.”

Her wide smile is all he sees before he closes his eyes. 


	5. October 2012

_**October 2012** _

 

One Saturday evening, Jeff settles in front of the TV where an infomercial with a hot brunette gets him thinking.

He needs to get laid.

It’s been so long that he even has to count backwards to remember the last time. He knows he went home drunk with a cute little redhead whose name he couldn't remember the next day but that was months ago. Actual months. Holy dry spell. That’s…that can’t be right. It's probably the longest he's gone since he was a teenager. 

It needs to be rectified. 

Stretching out on his couch, one hand beneath his neck, Jeff scrolls through the contact list on his phone. There’s got to be some nameless chick that would jump at another night in his bed. He reaches the letter T when his phone rings loud in his hand, startling him so much that he rolls off the couch, his head narrowly missing the coffee table.

Mumbling a few obscenities, he peers closely at his caller ID and scrunches his eyes closed because seriously? It’s as if she knows.

“Hey, Annie, what’s up?”

“Jeff?”

The quiet sound of her voice has him sitting upright. “What’s wrong?”

The long pause doesn’t ease his worries either. “I’m sorry to bother you but could you…" she starts, her voice barely a sound. "Would you mind picking me up please?”

He frowns. “Sure, where are you?”

“Um…Greendale General Hospital.”

His eyes widen and he scrambles to his feet. “I’m on my way.”

Heart thundering in ears, Jeff grabs his keys and runs along the hallway, bypassing the elevator to take the stairs, needing to run out the adrenaline pumping through his body. His limbs feel all kinds of awkward and he stumbles more than once in the race to reach his car.

His wheels screech as he pulls out of his parking lot.

He’s pretty sure he shouldn’t be driving because he can’t remember any traffic signals and he breaks the speed limit the whole way there. Fifteen minutes later he runs through the hospital entrance, glancing around wildly, unsure of where she’d be and cursing himself that he didn’t think to ask.

“Jeff?”

He spins quickly to see her struggling out of a seat by the drinks machine and he hurries over, flinching at the blood dried on her face. He's not sure what he expected driving over here but it definitely wasn't that.

Annie winces when he grabs her upper arms, a low hiss between her teeth, and his grip loosens slightly, guilt rising as rapid as the beat of his heart. There's something mad about the way he eyes the scratches on her arm, the wound on her hairline. Her running tights are torn and the Adidas tank top she's wearing is covered in blood splatter from her head injury.

She frowns at him. “Where’s your coat?”

He looks down at his t-shirt with surprise. “I guess I forgot it. I was in kind of a hurry, Annie. Anyway, fuck the coat. What the hell happened?” He tugs her chin delicately so he can study her forehead.

“I kind of got hit by a car.”

“WHAT?!”

A couple of visitors look up from their magazines.

She leans against him wearily. “Yeah, I was running and bam! The car wasn't going fast or anything so it could have been worse but I hit my head on the edge of the sidewalk. You know, Abed’s right. Things do happen in slow-mo.”

Jeff rakes his fingers through his hair. “Are you okay? Is it safe to go home?”

“It’s just bruising mostly.”

“Annie,” he says, because he can sense bullshit just as much as she can.

“Okay," she admits. "I have a mild concussion and some bruised ribs, well, bruised everything really. My ankle kind of hurts too but I discharged myself. I just -”

“Against Doctor’s orders?” She nods meekly and he curses under his breath. “Annie, no. Let’s go back.”

She grips him as tight as her weak muscles allow. “No, please Jeff. I can’t. I don’t want…just. Please?”

Her eyes brim wide with tears and the desperation in her voice is new to his ears and something inside him breaks at the pithy little sound, the way she's clinging to him.

“It’s okay. I’ll... look after you,” he says eventually, even though he doesn't know the first thing about looking after anybody.

With a heavy sigh Annie presses her face to his chest and he trails his hand gently over her hair, hesitant to touch her the way he really wants to right now in case he hurts her and he just never wants to hurt her, ever. She fists his t-shirt as they stand there for a few minutes until she looks up at him, cheeks wet. Jeff smiles softly and she does the same, and he sweeps thumbs across her cheeks to wipe away her tears.

He hates her tears.

“We both know you’re the better nurse but I think Abed would approve if we subvert the tropes, just once.”

"Jeff," she breathes out a pathetic little laugh and then inhales sharply through gritted teeth. “You’re a giant nerd.”

“Damn. How'd you guess?”

With a soft smile, Jeff leads her to his car and uses the time and the silence to steady his heart and let the adrenaline settle. Her movement slow and stilted, Annie leans on him heavily, and he takes extra care helping her into the car, even clipping in her seatbelt in case she can't do it herself.

“Do you mind if we go to-”

“We’re going to mine, don’t worry,” Jeff cuts her off, pleased he made the decision when he sees the relief flood her features. “I don’t think you need Troy freaking out and Abed pretending to be a Doctor, not tonight at least.”

She smiles gratefully, eyes watery again, and squeezes his wrist as he moves to pull away. “Thank you.”

 

~x~

 

Back at his apartment, Jeff presses Annie against the back of his couch, just resting her there, while he figures out what to do. She watches him with a bitten lip and wide eyes, just as unsure as he, and he finds himself crouching to remove her sneakers, flinching at her ankle and how puffy it looks above the elastic line of her socks.

"You wait here, okay?"

Annie nods, eyes brimming with tears again as he runs the backs of his fingers softly against her cheek. Jeff doesn't know what to do with all the thoughts circling his brain, or the fears he's just swallowed, so he ignores them and hurries into his bedroom for a t-shirt and pair of shorts. As he shuts his chest of drawers he pauses to close his eyes and take a steadying breath, shifting back into action again and snagging his paintball hoodie from the back of his chair on the way out.

When he returns Annie's staring at the wall, absentmindedly, one hand resting high against her ribcage. 

"Uh, I bought you a change of clothes," he says. "Here."

She blinks away her daze, looking at the clothes in his hand as she touches her face and the crust of blood dried in her hair. "I think I should wash my face first."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure. That makes sense." He sighs, "I would make a terrible nurse."

"I think you're better than you think you are."

Her smile warms him and he lifts her, leading her to the bathroom and holding her waist gently when she wobbles. He waits outside the bathroom for a minute, ears on alert for the slightest sound, but one minute lapses into five and he feels itchy with restlessness and the lingering beat of adrenaline, so he wanders back out into the living room to pace it out, to distract himself, back and forth, back and forth. Ten minutes pass and he's about to go check if she's okay when he hears his name, a whisper, and he stops, alert suddenly.

Annie's face is slightly pink where she's scrubbed it clean and her hair is rumpled loose about her shoulders, damp at the temples and finger brushed behind her ears. She chews on her lower lip for a moment, her expression hesitant and a little embarrassed as she holds out the clothes he gave her.

“I tried but... I can’t do it. It hurts.”

“You need help?”

She nods shyly and his heart thumps so loud he wonders if she can hear it.

“Come here.” His hands hover against the hem of her top. “Are you sure you’re okay with me doing this, Annie?”

She swallows hard and nods like she's trying to convince herself. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, right? I mean…Oh, you know what I mean.”

Jeff laughs softly but the awkwardness of the moment catches the sound in the back of his throat, bringing him back to the moment in hand. He pulls the top high enough that he can see the bottom of her sports bra but she releases a strangled cry that startles him to a stop, his hands flying back in a guilty panic.

“Okay, okay. New plan.” He wanders over to his kitchen and grabs a pair of scissors from the drawer. “Mind if I cut it?”

“No, just get it off, please, it’s too tight. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

The panic in her voice is what does it and he cuts a line up the front of her top. Jeff decides to ignore the sight of Annie in a sports bra and winces at the scrapes covering the side of her torso, the bruise already purpling her pale skin. He eases her into his t-shirt, grateful that it’s big enough she doesn’t struggle. He hesitates for just a second and slides her running tights down her legs but he has to close his eyes and count to ten when she shivers at the graze of his fingers against the soft skin of her calves. Crouching low he gently pulls the tights away, aware of her hands on his shoulders for support, and he looks up to see her watching him, blue eyes dark in the low light. He helps her feet into the shorts, sweeping them up and tying them securely, and they watch each other the whole time.

Annie smiles gratefully but there’s a pink flush tinging her cheeks.

“Better?” he asks.

“Much. I’d be more embarrassed if I wasn’t in so much pain. Thank you. I'm sorry I'm so much trouble.”

"Someone's definitely got concussion."

"I mean it, Jeff," she says, and her voice quivers.

“Hey, Annie, you’re important to me and this is no trouble at all, although this t-shirt..." He plucks at the hem playfully. "Is my favorite so if you ruin it with your tears I might not forgive you.”

She smiles wide and when the shine to her eyes has faded he helps her onto the couch and covers her with a blanket, settling beside her and using the silence to check for any signs that she’s hurting more than she’s letting on.

"Annie?"

"Hmm?"

“Do you maybe want to tell me why you were out running so late on your own?”

She frowns, briefly, not really sure what he's talking about at first, but then shakes her head as realization dawns. “Oh, I was running this afternoon. I’d been in the hospital for hours.”

“What? Why didn’t you call anyone?”

She looks like she wants to shrug but thinks better of it, winding a thread of the blanket around her finger. “I just. I guess I didn’t think anyone would care.”

He rears back in the couch. “How…how could you even think that?”

"I don't, not really. I was just feeling sorry for myself, I guess."

"Why?"

For a few minutes she’s silent, leaning back against the cushions, eyes closed. Jeff thinks she might have fallen asleep until she inhales deeply, hissing and flinching at the movement.

“I got a postcard from my Dad today," she says then, and Jeff stays quiet because he knows she's not finished. "It was the first time I’ve heard from him in years," she continues, sounding a little bitter. "It wasn't much. Just three sentences telling me he was getting re-married. No enquiries as to how I was or anything. Just that he was finally happy after all these years. That was it.”

Fucking Dads.

Jeff doesn't really think about it when he threads his fingers through hers where it's resting on top of the blanket, and he doesn't have much time to regret the action as she looks down at their linked hands.

“I don’t know why but I just…I suddenly felt so alone," she carries on. "Which is ridiculous, right? I’ve been on my own for years. It's not as if this is anything new. But I don't really think about that part of my life very often. I try not to because it hurts. But then I had this glaring blue-inked reminder of everything I don’t have and the apartment felt too small and I couldn't breathe and I just had to get outside so I threw on my running gear and…" She exhales a breath then, deflated now. "It was my fault. I didn’t see the car. I wasn’t looking. I was just running, to nothing and nobody.”

“You’re not alone.”

She bites her head to the window so all Jeff can see is the back of her hair but he caught the thin press of her lips and he knows she’s trying not to cry.

“Annie, look at me.” He has to ask her twice before she turns back slowly, reluctantly, eyes shiny, and he grips her chin. “You are not alone. When you have friends, you have family. We’re your family.”

Annie squeezes his hand in understanding. “I know. I know that, I do. It’s just sometimes it hits me that I don’t really have anyone, not really, not deep down. I just…” She blinks rapidly and a single tear crawls down one cheek, so smooth in the moonlight. “Sometimes I just wish I had someone who could forget that I went to rehab and didn’t go to an Ivy League school, who accepted everything about me. Someone who really loved me…for me.”

She starts crying earnestly then, sniffling and sobbing, face scrunched tight with little gasps of pain, and Jeff feels something in him sink and shatter and he just wants to hold her tightly, engulf her tiny frame in his as if the contact could absorb some of her pain. He scoots closer, placing an arm around her shoulders. Her head rolls onto his chest, tears wetting his t-shirt as she shudders against him.

“You have us, Annie. And me. So, you know, if you ever feel alone you just…come over and we’ll be…alone…together.”

He bites his lip, the words awkward in his mouth, and he wonders if what he said was appropriate but, honestly, it was the first thing that came to mind.

She sniffs in short sharp bursts, gazing at him with glistening eyes somehow bluer under the teary shine. “I guess I already did, huh?”

They stare at each other for a long moment, enveloped by the silence and the low light in the living room, and Jeff feels warm and nervous when she looks away. He guesses that's what raw honesty does to a person.

“So, uh, I should probably call everyone," he says, glancing at his watch. "They’d want to know you’re okay.”

Annie moves suddenly, almost in a panic, and cries out sharply. “No, they’d come over and I don’t want anyone to see me like this. I’m a mess…I…”

“Annie, it’s going to be worse tomorrow, you know that right?”

“I’m not ready, I’m not prepared.” Her fingers tighten against his. "Please."

The desperation lingers again and Jeff never wants to hear it again, so he gently pushes her to resettle and grabs the remote from the coffee table.

“Do you want to watch TV before you go to sleep?”

“I probably should have mentioned that I’m not allowed to sleep tonight because of the concussion. Sorry.”

“You mean I’ve got to stay up all night talking to you? That’s just great.”

“If I had the energy I would smack you in the chest right now.”

He laughs. “So, I’m thinking we should steer clear of comedy because laughing might puncture a lung or something.” The channels flick speedily. “How about The Wire? Nothing funny about that.”

“Do you…do you think we could just sit here in the quiet like this for a little while?”

Jeff switches off the TV and pulls her back into his chest. “Whatever you want.”

 

~x~

 

Dappled through the slatted blinds the sunlight hits him first, a blinding spark in his eyes. The neck ache comes second.

Jeff rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand and rolls his head side to side as the sleepiness fades and the awareness of the night starts to filter through. He’s conscious of a weight on his legs restricting his movements, and he looks down at Annie where her head is propped against his thighs, wincing at the sight of her skin, now mottled black and blue in the morning light. Long eyelashes fluttering lightly on pale cheeks, her chest rises steadily, and there’s a light sheen on her nose. He strokes her hair, a soft smile brushing his lips.

And then he remembers.

“Annie, wake up.” When she doesn’t move his heart panics and he raises his voice a notch. “Annie.”

She lurches, still sleepy eyed, and cries out a little. “Jeff?” she wonders, blinking blearily. 

Jeff releases a deep steady breath. “Sorry, we fell asleep and I panicked. I don't know how long you're supposed to stay awake.”

“It’s okay. We must have only been asleep for a couple of hours.” Her voice quivers through a loud yawn. “What time is it?”

“10am.” Feeling her relax back against his thighs, he continues the soft stroke of her hair. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a car.”

“Funny that.”

“I know, it’s hilarious. Abed will probably be annoyed that he wasn't there to film it.” Her smile fades quickly around a gasp. “Oh no! I never -”

“It’s okay, I texted them last night when you were in the bathroom. You were right, they all wanted to come over but I held them off. They want you home today though and everyone is going to be there. I’m pretty sure Shirley’s making get better-brownies right now. That okay?”

“I don’t want any fuss.”

“Everyone cares about you, Annie.” He shakes his head because he can't believe she just doesn't see it. 

“Is it…" She bites her lip. "Are you going to be okay with them knowing I was here?”

“I’m glad you called me.”

And he is. It made him feel…Special? Needed? Two things he rarely feels, if ever.

“That’s not what I asked. What if they think -”

“I don’t care what they think.”

Annie smiles. “You’re cute when you lie.”

His mouth opens to respond, to deny, but she has a point. What will everyone think when they discover Annie called him and he undressed her and she spent the night in his arms, watching TV and talking and making sure she was okay?

What would they think if they found out he enjoyed it and wants to do it again? Well, without Annie looking like she’d done ten rounds with Mike Tyson. But the rest was good.

“Wait, why _did_ you call me?” he asks.

Her eyes widen as if he didn’t expect him to ask that and she shoots her gaze to her feet. “I knew you wouldn’t film me or cry or rant about the state of today’s drivers. You’d help me, no questions asked. I needed that yesterday.”

Her faith in him does things to his insides and he doesn’t know where to look so he lightly brushes her cheek and says “Coffee, we need coffee” before helping her off the couch and lifting her gently into one of the kitchen bar stools, ignoring her protests the whole time.

She watches him make breakfast and takes the other half of his granary toast while he’s drinking coffee. It all feels very domestic, a sensation Jeff has little experience with, and it feels like a strange fit, like a new pair of shoes he’s not used to.

The scary thing is, he could get used to it. He really could. Just picturing future mornings like this makes him feel warm, makes his heart race.

“Oh. My. God,” Annie says suddenly, and Jeff startles, quickly rounding the kitchen bar.

"You okay?" he asks. “What is it?”

“I just realized that I’ve got the LSATs next week. What am I going to do?”

"Is that all? _Jesus_." Jeff huffs a laugh and rubs soothing circles over her back when he notices she doesn't settle. “Everything will be fine. A few days rest won’t hurt, you’re more than ready.”

“You think?”

“I know. Stop worrying. You need to relax, okay? Plus you've been given the perfect excuse to slack off for a while. That doesn't happen very often, Annie. Use it.”

She tuts at him and picks up another slice of toast and he moves to finish his coffee, trying to settle the adrenaline. It’s like she's trying to give him a heart attack.

After breakfast, Annie decides it's probably time to go home and face everyone, and Jeff helps her get ready, tying her sneakers and zipping her into his Paintball hoodie, watching with a smile at the sight of her swallowed up by his clothes.

“I’m not used to this," Annie says, almost dazedly, unable to take her eyes off his face. "It’s…weird.”

“Used to what?”

“Someone taking care of me. I'm not saying that for pity or anything, it's just been me for a long time now. I’m not sure what to do with myself.”

His heart sinks at that and right then, in that moment, he wants to kiss her, desperately. It would be so easy to duck down and cradle her jaw close and press his lips to hers, just soft and slow at first so he didn't hurt her but firm enough to let know he cares, that he's here.

“Well, someone wise once said that everyone needs looking after sometimes. And you deserve to have someone look after you, Annie.”

“You think I’m wise?”

He shrugs one shoulder. “Maybe.”

The way she gazes up at him makes him feel like the best kind of man there is which is not deserved but he’ll take it anyway because that's just what he does.

Annie bites her lip and he frowns at the hesitation climbing its way across her face. “I’m going to say something that will make you uncomfortable but I don’t care.” Ignoring the pain she lifts her hand, slowly, to graze his stubble-lined jaw. “You’re a kind and decent man, Jeff Winger. No, don’t look away. I know you don’t think so but underneath it all you are and I want you to believe it. I need you to believe it.” Her hand moves a soft path down to his chest, just above his racing heart. “I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”

Jeff swallows the lump in his throat because the depth of what she makes him feel is just too damn much sometimes.

“Well, you once told me that you remember everything so that’s not surprising.”

“You remember that?” she asks in surprise.

“Sure.” He shrugs. “I remember everything too.”

 

~x~

 

When it takes ten minutes to get up one flight of stairs in Annie’s building, Jeff huffs in exasperation and lifts her off her feet, ignoring her squeak of protest.

“I can do it myself, Jeff!” she shouts.

“Clearly. But I’d have aged ten years by the time we get there.”

Annie huffs but settles in his arms, clutching at the back of his neck because further arguing is futile. She watches his face as he climbs two more flights and once again apologizes for being so much trouble.

He ignores her.

Outside the apartment, Annie’s gaze flits between him and the door. “Um, I guess you can put me down now.”

Looking down, Jeff realizes he’s holding Annie bridal style and yeah, he could do without carrying her over the threshold, especially as he knows the study group are waiting on the other side and he could really do without the overreaction. 

She has to knock, having lost her key when she went flying through the air yesterday, a fact which she now finds hilarious when she says it out loud, and the door opens immediately. Troy and Abed bounce with excitement but the smile on Troy’s face slips as soon as he sees the extent of her injuries.

Annie walks inside, closely followed by Jeff, patting Troy’s arm in consolation as his shoulders shudder and he sobs loudly into a closed fist. Their appearance induces several loud gasps; Shirley murmurs "Oh my!" as Britta stares with a warring mixture of shock and concern and Pierce stands in the corner looking unsure whether to cry or have a heart attack, given the way he suddenly clutches at his chest.

“Hey, it’s okay guys," Annie reassures them with a too-bright smile. "I’m fine. Even a mini-van can’t break me!”

“Oh, Ann-ie!” Shirley hurries over and Jeff opens his mouth to protest but it’s too late. She surrounds her tightly and the sound Annie makes has Shirley jumping back guiltily.

Britta eyes Annie suspiciously. “Uh, are those your clothes, Jeff?”

“No, Britta, they’re Annie’s and she just shrank in the wash.”

Troy’s eyes widen. “Can…can that really happen?” he wonders.

“No, Jeff is trying to distract everyone from the fact that Annie is wearing his clothes.”

Jeff ignores Shirley’s dagger eyes. “Stellar commentary, Abed.”

Abed blinks. “Thanks.”

“Why are you wearing his clothes?” Britta asks, not letting this go and she really needs to learn to read the room better. “You should have called me. At least my clothes would've fit.”

Annie sighs, because the third degree is really the last thing she needs today. “I called Jeff because you were at a concert, Shirley has her kids, Pierce wouldn’t have known what to do and you guys,” She points at Troy and Abed, “Were at the multiplex all day.”

Jeff frowns, trying hard to ignore the feeling that he’s just been punched in the gut and failing, big time. “Wait, so, I was your last resort?”

Her eyes widen perceptively and Jeff realizes that, yeah, maybe she’s trying to help him here. She wobbles on her injured ankle and gasps in pain and five sets of hands reach out to help her and just like that the conversation is over.

Abed leads Annie to his recliner. “You sit here. This seat has healing powers.”

Her lower lip trembles a little. “You’d let me sit in your seat, Abed?”

“Sure.” He tilts his head. “Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?”

She blinks rapidly. “No, not at all. Help me sit down?”

Abed holds out his arms and she grips them tight, lowering herself slowly, mumbling how she'll probably have trouble moving around for a week or so. Britta wanders over and perches on the arm rest, brushing her hand against Annie's hair, though a little awkwardly at first because she's not the most affectionate person, but she's trying.

“So, Annie, what happened?”

“Oh, I was just out running and didn’t look where I was going. No biggie.”

“When you got hit, did it happen in slow-motion?" Abed asks, his eyes widening the more he thinks about it. "Did a montage of your life flash before your eyes?”

Annie glances at Jeff and they share a smile. “No, no montage, Abed.”

“Oh, shame.”

“But it did happen in slow-mo.”

Abed’s eyes widen to whites. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” he says, like she's just given him the greatest gift.

“I didn’t even know you were a runner, Annie.” Shirley wanders over with a plate of brownies, removing the saran-wrap covering.

“I’m not usually but I just felt the urge to go, especially as I can’t resist these.” She wiggles the chocolate treat in her hand and Shirley coos and "Aww's."

“Ugh, Annie. You’ve got a great figure. You don’t need to go running to change it. Don’t be drawn into society’s ideals of -”

Everyone groans and Troy glares sternly. “Britta! Don’t you think she’s been through enough?!”

Jeff, meanwhile, stands in the corner watching his friends, a little frozen by the thought that Annie is just as good a liar as he is. Why didn’t she tell them the truth? And then he wonders how she manages to smile at all their questions and not be annoyed by their endless fussing and fighting when all he wants to do is tell them to leave her alone, give her space, let her breathe.

Old Annie sits in Abed’s prized recliner, happy and smiley and more concerned with abating her friends fears than she is with resting. She’s not the same Annie as last night, who told him about her Dad and the postcard and sobbed her feelings against his chest like she was broken inside.

And it’s in this moment that Jeff feels the change between them; a greater understanding, a secret only they share. He looks at her as she pats Pierce’s hand reassuringly, her face beaming, but it’s like a light shines on her now, illuminating everything he never saw and now, now it’s all he’ll ever see.

She's not just his hot friend Annie, who’s excitable and dedicated and likes purple pens and the first clean page of a new notebook. There’s a person in there just as broken and stubborn as he is, and now that he's seen the way she's cracked, he’s startled by how much she hides with a bright smile.

She’s not really free and light and bouncy and shit, he isn’t either.

The realization of this throws him off kilter and he knows, knows without question, that they can’t go back from this, that things will never be the same.

And it terrifies the shit out of him.


	6. November 2012

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** This chapter includes one speculative spoiler about the ending of The Sopranos. Oh and warning: also includes brief mentions of The Big Bang Theory. *Annie gasp* Also, Annie's text messages are in bold italics.

_**November 2012** _

 

It's been another long, dull morning at Greendale so Jeff is actually looking forward to seeing his friends at lunch. He's running a little late and all the chicken fingers are gone so he grabs a salad and slides into a seat next to Britta, trying to ignore Troy and Abed debating the ending of _The Sopranos._

“No, man. I refuse to believe it. Tony can’t die!”

“Guys,” Jeff says. “This conversation is five years too late. Who cares?”

Abed opens his mouth to answer because this is something he cares about a great deal but he's distracted by Shirley’s loud squeal as she slides into the seat next to him, purse first. Annie sidles up behind, struggling to remove her backpack and, without much thought for who's watching, Jeff stops eating to help ease it off her shoulders. She mouths a quiet “Thank you” and his lips twitch upwards until the silence that touches him is too heavy to ignore.

Jeff turns to face the rest of the group watching them intently. “What?" He shrugs and returns to his seat like they haven't just witnessed his first ever act of chivalry. "She’s injured.”

“Mmmhmm.” Shirley glares at him suspiciously but seems to remember her earlier excitement and turns to Annie, nudging her encouragingly. “Ann-ie, aren’t you going to tell everyone your good news?”

Annie just looks confused.

“She’s got a date!” Shirley finishes gleefully.

As everyone mumbles their interest - which as it turns out is not that interested at all really - Jeff’s stomach sinks to his feet and stays there. He can’t say he’s surprised. This is Annie and she’s beautiful and sure, he notices guys checking her out and yeah, okay, so sometimes he walks a little closer to her for that very reason. The truth is part of him has been dreading a day like this for a long time now. He just didn’t expect, after everything recently, he thought…

Ugh.

“I set her up with a lovely man from my business class,” Shirley grins, way too pleased with herself. “His name’s Michael, he’s twenty-three and comes from a nice Christian family.”

Yeah, like those are the kind of important markers in a date.

“We said we’d work together to find Annie’s next date,” Britta says, eyeing Shirley accusingly. 

"We did but I don't see you bringing anything to the table," Shirley adds haughtily. 

"Guys!" Annie gasps, indignant now. “I’m not some pathetic dateless project you have to work on.”

“Technically you are dateless because your last date was on July 25th, unless there are others we don’t know about?” Abed says, tilting his head in wait.

Annie folds her arms sharply, lips pinched.

"Annie..." Britta says, and presses forward in her seat. “I’m picking up a certain amount of reluctance from your body language -”

“Oh, here we go,” Pierce groans.

“I know what I’m talking about, Pierce. I’m a certified Psych student and I read up to chapter six in Body Language for Dummies!” Britta scowls at him across the table and exhales a heavy calming breath to settle herself. “Now, Annie, if you don’t want to date Shirley’s guy, I could always set you up again. In fact, there’s a guy in my Psych -”

"Sure," Shirley snaps in offence. "If you like guys with-"

“You know, you were right, Abed,” Jeff interrupts, stabbing at one of the baby tomatoes in his salad with his plastic fork. “Tony Soprano died. It’s so obvious now that I think about it.”

Abed nods rapidly. “Called it.”

“Damn! Really?” Troy bangs the table with a disheartened fist. "That _Journey_ song at the end was so hopeful, you know? _Don't Stop Believin'_ they said, and I didn't." His lip starts to tremble slightly. "I didn't!"

Abed pats his shoulder in commiseration while Annie just wears the same confused expression from earlier, like she knows she's missed something but doesn't know what exactly.

It’s just, if Annie has to date, Jeff would rather not hear about it.

The pause is brief but it does the trick and everyone turns back to their food. Annie pops open a can of soda and gasps like she's just remembered something, before unzipping her bag and pulling out a handful of shiny brochures.

“Look guys!" she says, positively brimming with excitement. "These are the Law Schools I’m applying to.”

She points at the images on the covers and Jeff narrows in on some of the names as she traces the lettering with her fingertip: Berkeley, Stanford, George Washington. All out of state.

This does not make him feel any better.

 

~x~

 

A few days later, Jeff leaves his World History class with a craving for coffee when he notices Annie in the hallway talking to some random guy, and he knows, with his Winger-famed intuition, that this is wholesome Christian twenty-three year old Michael.

Motionless, he watches the flirty smile crawl across Annie’s face and he really doesn’t want to see this, especially as he was more than happy to live in his imagination where Michael was fat or ugly and didn’t look anything like Mark Ruffalo. But now he’s got a real life visual and he can’t escape the fact that yeah, he’s probably perfect for his Annie.

Shit.

They talk back and forth for a while and when Annie waves goodbye, Michael eyes her until she’s out of sight before turning around with a look of impressed appreciation. Jeff can’t help the pain in his chest and feels a loss of something, though he's not exactly sure what that is. Part of him thought she’d always be there, his Annie, because she is his, whether she knows it or he likes it, whether it’s right or wrong.

The rage tightening every muscle in his body needs to be drowned out immediately and now, coffee just won’t cut it.

 

~x~

 

Late Tuesday night, Jeff sits at his dining table surrounded by papers, pens and books strewn across the top. He has a history paper due tomorrow and, as usual, he's left it until the last minute to finish, partly because he really is that lazy and partly because he always works best under pressure. Last minute is kind of his thing.

Still, he's been working on it for hours now - the pain of concentration blooming across his eyebrows - and his neck cracks as he tries to ease the tension, and when his phone buzzes he’s honestly relieved by the distraction, even though he doesn't really have time for it.

He checks the screen and grins.

**_Jeff! I got a 175 on my LSATs!!!_ **

The pride blooms in his chest and the smile inching across Jeff’s cheeks is almost painful as he types his reply. _Holy crap Annie, that’s amazing. What did I tell u?_

He wishes she was here so he could hug her or at least see the excitement on her face; maybe she could see the pride on his. He checks his watch but it’s too late to go over now and he's actually a little disappointed at the thought.

**_I know I’m so happy! Eeeeeeeeeep!_ **

He chuckles because he can practically hear the sound she's making right now, it's so clear in his imagination. _Have Troy & Abed thrown u a party yet?_

It’s a while before his phone vibrates again.

**_You’re the 1st person I told. Will tell everyone in morning. What you been up to tonight?_ **

That same frisson of something he felt last month flares inside him at the thought of being the first person she told, that makes him feel special when really he's anything but, and his heart is rabid as he replies, _Scotch + sport._

**_Liar. You’re doing your history paper, aren’t you?_ **

Jeff smiles, shaking his head.  _Did u get Abed 2 hide cameras here or something?_

**_Yes. There’s one in that plant on your kitchen bar._ **

He steals a glance at the small fern Annie gave him to ‘brighten’ his apartment after her very first visit months ago. He’s surprised he hasn’t killed it yet. _Liar,_ he texts back.

**_Teehee. Bet you looked though._ **

His lips twitch as his fingers tap quickly across the keypad. _U have no evidence 2 corroborate ur theory._

**_I don’t need evidence, Jeff. I know you._ **

His heart races like he's just run ten miles but he supposes the truth stimulates that kind of response in someone who rarely uses it. He feels…naked and for the first time, well, ever, he doesn’t like that he can’t tell intonation over text, and he really needs to hear her voice and the excitement dancing there, so he calls her.

She picks up before the first ring.

“Annie, I’m so proud of you," he tells her. "You’re…amazing, after everything you’ve been through.”

The words feel awkward in his mouth because really, the only person he's used to complimenting is himself.

“Thanks, Jeff. I couldn’t have done it without your support.”

His hand flutters carelessly and he feels like an idiot because she can’t see the gesture. “Psssh. Don’t.”

“I mean it.”

In the silence that follows he's not sure what the hell he's supposed to say in the face of genuine niceness and gratitude. He can handle snarky comments and things said in jest but this?

He clears this throat instead, figuring it's best just to ignore it. "So, are you doing anything to celebrate?" he asks.

“Not tonight, I’m hiding in my room from Terrible and Annoying. That’s Troy and Abed. You see what I did there?”

“Clever," he says, and wanders into his bathroom. "Why?”

“Because ever since we got home they’ve been making weird animal noises in the Dreamatorium and they said it would soon be my turn.” She pauses and Jeff pictures her glancing cautiously at her bedroom door. “I’m scared,” she adds quietly.

Nestling the phone between his shoulder and ear, Jeff squeezes out a line of paste on his toothbrush. “Yeah, Troy and Abed are terrifying. I don’t know how you sleep at night,” he intones, ignoring her little gasp in response. “Anyway, I’m about to brush my teeth, so carry on.”

“Oooh, good idea.”

He hears her breathe a little faster and her door opening and pretty soon they’re both listening to the sound of each other brushing, spitting and rinsing and it’s not weird because it’s not the first time they’ve done this.

Jeff checks his reflection and runs a tongue across his teeth. “Well, I’m minty fresh. You?”

“The mintiest. Hang on, I’m just checking…” There’s a clicking sound. “Coast is clear.”

Even though he still has a paper to finish, Jeff ambles to his bedroom and stretches out on the sheets, one hand under his pillow, and imagines her doing the same. “I’d like to know what they get up to in there, although curiosity killed the cat so…maybe not.”

“Well, it’s all about the power of imagination," Annie says. "I had an adventure with Abed in there once.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, it was…enlightening?” She pauses to think about it for a moment. “Yes, that’s the right word.”

“What happened?”

“I can’t tell you that!” Her voice is a pitch too high and Jeff’s heart races for some reason. “The Dreamatorium is like Vegas. What happens in there, stays in there.”

“Right. Because that makes sense.”

There’s a loud crashing noise in the background and Annie gasps. “Oh God, they’re coming for me I just know it! Okay Jeff listen, this is very important.”

“Can you hear me rolling my eyes? If not, just so we’re clear, I’m rolling my eyes.”

“Shut up! Okay, so, you know in some movies friends have a word that only they know and if they use it, they’ll know their friend needs help?”

He frowns, trying to catch up to speed. “Uh. Yes?”

“Well, I think we should have a specific word that only me and you know about and if I shout it, you’ll know I need saving.”

Jeff rolls on his side and punches his pillow to get comfortable. “Annie Edison never needs saving.”

“Jeff, now’s not the time for flattery!”

He chuckles. “Okay but I’m only doing this if I get full use out of it. If I’m trapped with the Dean and his wandering hands and I shout this word, you have to save me too. Fair’s fair.”

She sighs, sounding really put out about it. “Okay, deal, although really, Jeff? The Dean is harmless.”

“Do I need to remind you of the Seal fiasco of 2011?”

The sound of her laughter warms him. “No, I have the video saved on my laptop.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope!” She giggles. “Anyway, we’re going off topic. Let’s discuss our safe word.”

“Safe word?” He keeps his voice low and husky. “I like the sound of this…”

“That’s not what I…Oh, you know what I meant, Jeff! Stop trying to fluster me.”

"Do I fluster you?"

"Stop it!"

'Okay, okay," he chuckles and imagines the sexy little pout on her lips. “What did you have in mind?”

She clicks her tongue in thought. “What about bazinga?”

“What have I told you about watching The Big Bang Theory, Annie?”

“Hey, if you know about bazinga, that means you watch it too. Anyway, I was only choosing a word that you’d associate with pure hatred, enough that you would come to my rescue, kind of like a conditioned fear response. I thought about Glee but I don’t want to make you cry.”

“Evil rumor started by Pierce.”

“Jeff, we both know the tears weren’t about Glee.” She pauses and is quiet when she adds, “I actually thought it was very sweet.”

He rolls his eyes because of course she did. “Whatever, bazinga it is. Emergencies only though. No using it for lame things like that time you saw a spider in my bathtub. I’m pretty sure my ears are still ringing from your screams.”

She gasps indignantly. “It was the size of my fist, Jeff!”

“It barely fit in my palm.”

“That’s because you have giant man hands that are as big as my head.”

“Hey! Giant man hands have their uses, you know? They’re strong and the ladies seem to like them. Better than having tiny hands like yours.”

“Tiny hands have their uses too.”

“Yeah?” His voice is teasing. “What’s that?”

“Everything they hold looks bigger!”

Jeff chokes on nothing and Annie’s voice is all kinds of smug as she says, “Goodnight Jeff. Sweet dreams.”

 

~x~

 

Later, a few hours of tossing and turning and thoughts of Annie’s delicate little hands circling things that are already big enough thank you very much, Jeff’s phone buzzes on his bedside table, the light grazing the ceiling above. He squints from the brightness as he presses view.

**_Bazinga_ **

Jeff grins at first and then laughs harder the more he thinks about it, enough for his stomach to ache, and though his laughter rings hollow around the empty bedroom, he doesn’t feel alone. He turns his pillow over to the cold side and sinks into it, unable to wipe the smile off his face as he closes his eyes.

Okay, so maybe he feels a little better.

 

~x~

 

The following week, Jeff sits in a dark corner of the library having an argument on Twitter with some douche about The Big Bang Theory. Despite the rain lashing against the window outside, there's a quiet stillness that he's yet to find anywhere else at Greendale, and for a moment he relishes the peace because if he knows anything, it never lasts too long.

“There you are!" Annie appears from behind a row of books, beaming with excitement and clearly concealing something behind her back. "Whatcha doing?” she asks.

Jeff points at his phone. “Trying to teach this tool a lesson. He wouldn’t know decent Thursday night comedy if it bit him in the ass. What’s got you so excited?”

He hopes it’s not some fancy Law School brochure because he’s seriously not in the mood.

Annie squeaks like she just can't conceal whatever it is any longer and places a cupcake on the table in front of him, a single candle squished into swirls of luminous green icing.

“Ta-da!”

“ _Annie_ …”

“I know, I know! You said no fuss for your birthday but I would hardly call one measly cupcake fuss, would you?”

“It’s bright green,” he says flatly.

“Oh yay, Jeff," Annie laughs, clapping a few times. "You’re not colorblind!”

“Ha ha. Hilarious,” he says, and turns back to his phone.

“Don’t you like it?”

He glances up to see her bottom lip protruding sadly. “I’m not really a cupcake kind of guy, Annie. But thanks anyway.”

“Why are you being such a jackass?”

“What? No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. I made this especially for you and I even stole Britta’s marijuana lighter to light the candle. Do you have any idea how stealth-like that mission was? She guards it like her life depends on it. I turned into a cupcake-making ninja just for you and now you’re being all…you!” Annie snaps her arms tight under her bust and ignores his amused chuckle. “You couldn’t have just accepted the cupcake and been on your merry way?”

“My merry way?" Jeff frowns. "What am I, a leprechaun? Is that why this is bright green? Am I gonna do a little jig after I’ve eaten it?”

“It’s bright green, Jeff, because I may have used too much food coloring. They don’t tell you how much is too much.”

“This is too much, Annie.” He points to the cupcake. “This is.”

“I just wanted you to know that I remembered your birthday,” she says sadly.

Jeff tugs on her wrist just as she starts to spin away. “I’m sorry, I just. I don’t want to be reminded that I’m another year older.”

Annie pauses, brow pinched as she takes that in, before sitting in the chair beside him. “Why not?”

“Because…” She looks at him encouragingly and Jeff sighs. “Because I’m not where I want to be at thirty-six years of age, Annie.”

Ugh, even saying his age makes him feel queasy. He twirls his phone in hands, unable to stop the incessant jiggle of his leg.

“Where did you want to be?” Annie presses a warm palm to his jiggling thigh and he stops immediately, so focused on it he has no idea she’s removed the phone from his grip until it clatters on the table. “Tell me,” she insists carefully.

Jeff draws his gaze up from her hand – although he’s still aware of it like a heavy weight, and the heat of her palm radiating through jeans – and sighs from the depth of his stomach. He doesn't want to tell her anything because this is something he's kept to himself for a long time now but she's looking at him with her beautifully concerned face and those big fluttering eyes and he just can't help himself.

“I wanted to be Partner, I wanted a huge house and a yellow sports car and…” He shakes his head and leans back in his chair to stare, blinkingly, at the ceiling. "I wanted a lot of things."

Annie rubs his thigh softly. “You will have those things, Jeff. They might not come right now but you’ll get there. It’s only 6 months until we graduate. It’s so close. Don’t lose heart now.”

“I’m not.”

“You are, I can tell. What are you so worried about in there?” She taps his forehead gently and watches him with wide expectant eyes and suddenly his mind is completely blank.

"I..." He frowns. “I don’t know.”

Annie pauses to wet her lips and gather her thoughts, and she looks at her lap as she says, “I hoped, you know, after last month and everything I said, that you felt you could talk to me too.”

“Annie, you know I do, but I mean, I genuinely don’t know,” he says, and it's true because he really doesn't know what that niggling feeling is.

He just can't explain it.

His confusion must be clear because Annie's smile is small and sad, and she rests her head against his shoulder with a contented sigh. He’s flooded by her scent and her warmth, her closeness, and yeah, he needed this today. His head gravitates to rest on top of hers and they sit there for a long moment. He’s comforted by her every soothing breath, its steady rhythm almost hypnotic, and soon he’s forgotten all about thirty-six and his lack of life achievements.

She moves then and he does too, their gazes sewn together intently, faces inches apart, and he’s overwhelmed by the need to kiss her; this thriving compulsion that makes his skin itch, like her kiss is some kind of addiction and he needs a fix. If he’s honest, the need has always been there but he’s grown accustomed to it and shoved it in some faraway compartment, and now he’s remembered what it is, now the lid is flipped wide open, the thought is all-consuming.

Their mouths a whisper apart, breaths hot against lips and heavy in silence, the adrenaline kicks in and he thinks yes, _God yes_ , but he pauses, just a fraction, flooded by thoughts of her date who is perfect for her and he who is not and their chat back in August and what if she doesn’t want this?

His eyes snap away from Annie’s darkened blues to her hairline where her scar is now stitch-free, though it's red and raised, the skin still healing. Her accident feels like a lifetime ago – a distant dream that he's not sure really happened – and so he reaches out to remind himself, to delicately trace the scar with his fingertip before trailing his fingers down her temple and through her hair, pushing the soft strands behind one ear.

He clears his throat. “It’s healing nicely.”

“Yeah.” She draws out the word, slowly, against his mouth. “Um, happy random day of the year, Jeff.” She presses a kiss to his cheek, so soft it almost burns.

He smiles because she sounds just as affected as he is, although that doesn't seem possible. “You can say Happy birthday, Annie. Just no singing.”

“Oh, shame. I wrote you a birthday rap.”

“Dammit!” He shakes his head softly. “Come on, let’s hear it,” he says, smiling at the glorious look on her face.

"Really?!" she almost squeals. “Okay, drop a beat.”

“No, Annie, no beats will be dropped here, at least not by me.”

“Ugh, party pooper." She preens and straightens her skirt and coughs a little in preparation. "Okay, here goes.”

She bounces, both hands cutting the air this way and that as she raps nonsensical lyrics about sharing his birthday with some actor from Cougar Town and something about feet – yeah, he has no idea – but her happiness is so contagious he’s infected with it, laughing so hard he has to grip the ache tearing at his sides, and he feels like she's the only one who has the power to do that to him. Soon Annie’s clutching at her side, laughing just as loud and trying not to, and both of them are drawing curious stares from passing students.

Just when the laughter subsides, they catch each other’s gaze and it starts up again, harder, louder, until a red-headed library assistant hurries over and tells them to be quiet.

After wiping the tears from his eyes, Jeff pulls Annie against him, and she sinks into the embrace, cheek pressed to his chest, fingers tight against his lower back.

“Thank you.”

She pulls away, still clutching loosely at his shirt. “For what?”

“For remembering my birthday.” He cups her chin lightly. “For being you.”

Her eyes widen and the smile is slow to crawl across her face but when it does, finally, it’s magnificent, and he doesn’t know why he’s so afraid of telling her things when that’s the kind of reaction he gets.

It was so worth it.

"Okay." He picks up the cupcake from the desk, grinning all the while. “Where’s Britta’s marijuana lighter?”

Annie smiles, both delighted and mischievous as she pulls the lighter from her bra – damn, that thing’s impressive – and lights the candle, grinning wider as he blows it out with one quick breath.

The smoke, a single white puff between their smiles, drifts softly towards the ceiling before it disappears.

 

~x~

 

For Jeff, the first Thanksgiving at Greendale was spent in a bar with Ian Duncan, drinking. The second was spent in bed with Britta, drinking. And last year was spent alone in the darkness of his apartment, drinking.

He senses a pattern.

This year he’s not in the mood to see his mom, despite her constant phone calls asking him to visit, and he doesn’t feel like drinking alone again. He’s been doing that far too much lately. Maybe his therapist was right. When it was time to break a pattern, he’d know it.

And that is how he finds himself at Shirley’s house with a glass of soda water and a dash of lime; a drink Pierce teases him for endlessly: “Gay, Jeffrey, so gay.”

The whole group is there and Shirley’s front room is filled with eight grown-ups, two kids and a toddler. It’s manic and warm and nothing like he's used to, but it's kind of nice. 

Jeff stands by the kitchen archway watching Troy and Abed play on the Xbox with the kids. Shirley, Annie and Britta are in the kitchen and Jeff is more focused on Pierce and the fact he’s trying to tempt Ben out of his playpen for whatever reason, until Shirley loudly asks about Annie’s date and, well, Ben is on his own.

“Oh, it was actually really nice!” Annie says.

Jeff stares down at his lame drink and suddenly wishes he wasn't so sober.

“Why do you sound so surprised, pumpkin?” Shirley asks.

She hesitates to answer for a moment. “Well…”

“It’s because the guy Britta set her up with was a douche and she figured this guy would be too. Right?”

All activities stop as Annie, Britta and Shirley gasp at once, turning to Jeff as he wanders into the kitchen.

“Jeff!” Annie snaps.

He shrugs. They had to find out sooner or later.

“And what was so wrong with Blake?” Britta scowls, and her arms are folded now. “I thought you just didn’t have anything in common, that there was no spark.”

“Well, I didn’t and there wasn’t," Annie says. "But he wouldn’t stop going on and on about himself.”

“Yeah, and he liked wearing t-shirts from concerts he wasn’t even alive to see.”

Annie’s confusion wrinkles her brow.

Yeah, he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Jeff moves to the refrigerator and looks at all the food he'd never eat inside.

“So he has a lot to say,” Britta offers with a shrug. “I still think he was better than Shirley’s guy.”

Shirley pokes her carving knife pointedly. “Uh-uh, no you didn’t just say that to me! Michael is a handsome Christian man. There's nothing better than that.”

Annie drops her spoon with a tiny clatter. “Actually, Britta, Blake insulted you, a lot. He’s not a nice person.”

"Oh." Britta’s shoulders slump as she absentmindedly stirs the steaming gravy. “Well, sorry Shirley.”

Shirley smiles with a satisfied nod.

“And Shirley, now that we're talking about this, I won’t be seeing Michael again.”

Jeff shuts the refrigerator door and turns to face the three women.

“Why not?”

Annie jumps at the noise of their combined voices, her gaze bouncing between them, like she's not sure who to address first. “It bothered him that I’m half Jewish. Aside from that he was very nice but….”

She shrugs, picking up the serving spoon again.

Shirley clears her throat. “So, technically, I won?”

Britta gasps, “Hey!”

Jeff starts to laugh and Annie scowls at him.

“You guys, my love life's not a competition!”

"We know, sweetie," Shirley says, and has the grace to look ashamed, if only for a second. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry. We’ll fix you up with someone else. There's a long line of men waiting to fall at your feet.” Britta stretches out her arm to prove it. “Seize them, Annie! Seize them!”

As if she’ll listen to Britta.

Jeff rolls his eyes and steals a carrot baton that Annie just placed in a serving dish, smiling cheekily when she slaps his hand away.

“Listen, I appreciate the thought but I don’t need anyone fixing me up. How do I know these guys aren’t just agreeing to the date because you won’t stop hassling them?” She pauses to lick her lips, not really looking at them now. “I wouldn’t blame them because I’ve only agreed to these dates for the same reason.”

Shirley gasps and Britta opens her mouth in silent protest while Jeff bites the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling. This…this is so much better than drinking alone in the dark.

Annie concentrates on wrapping the serving dish in saran-wrap to seal the heat inside.

“And you know, maybe it would be nice for a guy to approach me for a change.” She finally looks up and stares at them all determinedly. “So, no more dates, okay?”

Shirley and Britta bob their heads, both looking resigned to it all, and soon the kitchen is re-filled with the sounds of cooking and chatting about Britta’s latest Psych experiment and it only goes silent when she asks for volunteers.

 

~x~

 

Thanksgiving dinner is a bit chaotic but pretty fun. Shirley's dining table is really only big enough for six people so there's not a lot of space as everyone squeezes to fit on mismatched chairs.

The surface is covered with steaming food, all of which smells really good but makes Jeff panic at the amount of calories, and it's only Annie's comforting touch on his arm and her gentle reminder that it's just one meal that he manages to relax a little.

He'll work it off tomorrow.

They all toast to friendship and family and Jeff clinks his drink against Annie's glass, completely unable to stop staring at her smile.

 

~x~

 

After putting Ben to bed, Shirley returns to the living room with Jeff’s worst nightmare.

“Family game time!”

Britta and Jeff groan as Shirley dumps the stack of ripped and faded boxes on the coffee table and switches off the TV, much to the annoyance of Abed who yelps in protest of it all.

Andre perks up from his doze in one of the armchairs. "Baby, must we do this?"

"Yes," she says, eyeing him sternly, and starts dusting off the top of one of the boxes. "We always play games on Thanksgiving. It's tradition. Are you saying I should mess with tradition, Andre?"

He holds his arms up in defeat, "Nope," before glancing at the rest of the group with a "Sorry, I tried" expression.

“Shirley,” Jeff starts carefully. “Everyone knows board games are just devices of mental torture designed to crush your spirit when you lose.”

Shirley glares. “I’ll crush more than your spirit Jeffrey if you don’t commit to something for a change.”

Annie jumps up from her seat to help search through the games. “Never mind, Shirley. Jeff is just afraid of losing.”

“Me, afraid? Pffft. Don’t make me laugh, Annie.”

“Huh. That's strange because I distinctly remember you running away crying after you lost our Political debate last year.”

“We said we’d never mention that again.” Jeff looks aghast but feels a little jolt of adrenaline at her teasing. “And for the record, I took myself out of that game. I never lost. I don’t even know what losing tastes like.”

She shrugs with a smile. “We’ll see.”

“Ah, we haven’t had an episode with a competition for a while.” Abed stands then. “I’m in.”

Troy agrees. “Yeah, me too.”

“Oh yay!” Shirley coos and claps. "This will be fun!"

Abed pulls a game from the stack. “We’ll play this.”

“Twister? Really Abed?” Britta scrunches her nose. “Twister?”

“Yes, buzzkill, Twister.” Pierce rolls his eyes. “Looks like someone needs reading glasses…”

"Shut up, Pierce. I just don't know why we have to play a game for six year old kids."

“It’s a game of physical skill,” Abed says as he shakes out the plastic mat and arranges it on the floor, making sure it's straight.

“Oh, well you’re all going to lose because I am all about the physical,” Jeff says, and strips down to his white tank top.

He needs mobility for this game and if it distracts the ladies, even better. It’s not cheating. It's more like tactical advantage.

“Plus," Abed continues, still fussing with one of the edges of the mat. "Awkward games have the potential for -”

“Awkwardness?” Troy asks.

Abed nods. “Exactly.”

With Pierce controlling the spinner, the group take turns on the game, with Abed proving the victor. He maybe be skinny but he's surprisingly dexterous and highly flexible. It's pretty impressive.

At some point, Annie ends up in a crab-like position whilst Britta hovers above her.

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Shut up, Pierce!” Britta snaps, huffing as she tries to keep her position.

Annie flushes from her spot below. “This is kind of awkward…”

“Awkward but hot,” Troy says, unable to look away.

“Troy! Don’t encourage him.” Britta turns to glare, wobbles and ends up flat on her behind.

“What? I’m a guy, Britta. I can’t help it.”

Troy pulls her up, and she quickly adjusts her skewed t-shirt with an exaggerated huff. “Ugh, you men are such pigs, always led by your penis!”

“Hey, it tells us where it wants us to go.” Jeff shrugs. “Who are we to ignore our inbuilt method of direction? Think of it as GPS.”

“O-kay! Who’s next?” Shirley asks.

“Jeff and Annie.”

“Why?” Annie frowns at the group and then at Abed. “I’ve just had my turn plus my side kind of hurts. I could do with a break.”

“But your challenge to Jeff is what led us here. We need to round off the episode, Annie. It’s called symmetry. There’s no time to explain.”

“Hey, Annie, if you’re not up to it, just admit defeat.” Jeff gestures to his friends, his grin smug. “We’d all understand.”

“Oh, you big jerk! Come on.” She fists his tank top and pushes him towards the mat pretty aggressively for someone so small. "Let's do this!"

Right foot yellow, left hand red, right hand green, left foot blue it goes until they are spread across the mat. Occasionally, their eyes meet and their smiles rise and Jeff buzzes every time their bodies meet. Shirley looks concerned the whole time, and Pierce rubs his hands together gleefully as Jeff hovers above Annie and not even in the kind of position he’d dreamed about.

Okay, maybe that one time.

Annie’s determined though, as always, her pink tongue poking out the side of her mouth in concentration as she lifts her hips and curls her calf around his leg to reach the colored dot she’s aiming for. She moans a little – probably the exertion of her bruised ribs which still bother her sometimes – but Jeff’s brain doesn’t know the difference and he swallows hard at all the things he could do to hear it again. She’s obviously not trying to turn him on – although this is Annie and he’s not 100% certain she wouldn’t resort to methods of trickery – but Jeff can’t help the arousal flooding his every pore as she maneuvers beneath him.

_Chang naked…Soccer…Leonard…_

They’re close now, their body heat permeating their clothes, and with the heat of the small crowded room, Jeff feels a bead of sweat trailing his forehead, slipping down his nose until it drips onto Annie’s lips. She inhales sharply and Jeff feels it all the way to his groin and mouths a silent “Sorry.” Their eyes lock as she licks her lips and whether it’s conscious or not, Jeff has no idea. But it’s enough to know he needs to throw this game because, right now, he can’t ignore his inbuilt method of direction and its mental chant of Annie, mine, sex, kiss, hot, want, need and all the things it’s telling him to do, and they’re certainly not PG enough for a game of Twister.

It’s a fight with himself to admit defeat but this is about to get seriously embarrassing. He’s just about to ‘lose’ his stance when Annie presses upwards to whisper in his ear.

“Um…Let’s just call it even.”


	7. December 2012

_**December 2012** _

 

Troy’s birthday celebration starts at a sports bar near L Street where there’s more loud music than actual sports.

Jeff has never been more aware of his age when he realizes he’d rather be in a quiet restaurant where he can hear his friends talk and maybe savour a nice bottle of wine, but what can he do? He just has to accept that he’s finally growing up.

When he arrives he nods at Troy, Britta and Abed at the bar ordering drinks. Surveying the room he grins when he spots Shirley settled in a dark corner on a large couch, jiggling next to Annie; the two women performing their ‘go girl’ dance, although he's not sure why.

“Ladies, you’re looking beautiful tonight.” Shirley giggles as he kisses her hand but Annie rolls her eyes when he repeats the gesture and he knows then she's getting harder and harder to impress. “Where’s Pierce?” he asks.

Annie’s smile falters - so slight he almost misses it - and she takes a small sip of her drink. “His step-daughter Amber is in town for a few days. I think he's taking her to dinner.”

“Oh, well, his loss.”

Shirley claps her hands. “Oh Jeffrey, you’re not running off to have relations with her! It means you love us! That’s nice.”

“And you obviously love cocktails, Shirley.” Jeff eyes the five empty glasses on the table. “Maybe a little too much…”

“Hey! Two of those drinks were mine. Shirley’s not the only one who likes yummy flavored drinks.”

“Yummy flavored?”

“Yep. That’s what we named it, Jeffrey. ‘Cause it’s yummy!” Shirley giggles behind her hand and then burps loudly, much to her surprise, before excusing herself to the restroom, staggering and bumping into chairs along the way.

"Damn," Jeff chuckles and lowers himself next to Annie, stretching his arm out behind her. “How long have you guys been here?”

She checks her watch. “About an hour. You’re late.”

“Fashionably late.”

“Fashionable or not, it’s still late.”

“Touché Edison.” He smiles, pleased to draw one from her lips, and bumps her thigh with his own. "Touché."

Troy and Abed finally approach their table with pitchers of blue drink and glasses, while Britta trails behind carrying a tray of green colored shots that remind Jeff of Slimer from Ghostbusters.

“Jeff, you douche!" Britta shouts. "We thought you weren’t coming.”

“Well, you thought wrong, which is hardly surprising now, is it?”

“Ugh,” Troy groans. “You two aren’t going to do this again are you? Get drunk and be annoying all night and then make-out in the back of the car? I just…I can’t handle that again.”

"Troy!" Britta gasps as she sets the tray on the table, spilling a few shots. “Of course not. How could you even think that?”

Abed nods, gaze flittering between his four friends. “Yes, our seasons have evolved now. I approve.”

"Well, it's not like it hasn't happened before," Troy grumbles a little before taking a shot.

Jeff's not really sure what to say to that but thankfully he's distracted by Annie using one of his thighs for leverage as she pushes herself up from the couch, leaving a trail of tingly heat before she snatches her hand away. Despite himself, Jeff is immediately drawn to where she’s tugging the skirt of her blue dress further down her thighs, without any success. It’s nothing like her usual style, it’s tight against her body, skimming every delicious curve and damn, was her ass always that peachy and luscious? He could seriously take a bite out of it right now.

Well, it was right in his face begging for it.

“Right, I’m going to check on Shirley," she says. "I’ll be back.”

Jeff smirks. “With booty?”

Annie spins around and studies him briefly before her eyes gleam with mischief. “Maybe. Watch this space.”

And he does, because she told him to, watching her hips sway all the way to the restroom, letting his eyes trail down to the spike of her surprisingly high heels - they're purple too, very Annie - and all the way up her legs and no…he can’t be thinking things like this here.

_Leonard…Leonard in a thong...Baseball!_

“Eyes up here, Jeff.”

Startled, Jeff snaps his head to Britta and finds his three friends watching him intently. “What?” he asks, slightly unnerved that he forgot where he was for a moment there.

“Oh Jeff.” Abed studies him blankly. “Denial is a safe place to be but it’s no fun for the viewers.”

“Huh?”

“You two need to hook up already, dude.” Troy shakes his head. “It’s getting ridiculous.”

Abed and Britta nod in agreement and Jeff doesn’t know what to say because he pretty much thinks the same thing most of the time.

“Whatever guys," he dismisses. "I’m going to get a drink.”

Two or three rounds later, having successfully put Shirley in a cab home without too much trouble - though she did grab a generous feel for his ass which hopefully she won't remember tomorrow - Jeff congratulates himself with a large scotch, leaning against the bar to survey his surroundings.

Troy and Britta play a game of pool while Abed chats to a cute woman in a Star Wars t-shirt over by one of the arcade games, and Jeff tries to deal with the bitterness that isn’t really anything to do with the scotch rolling around his mouth. His eyes are fused to Annie as she converses with some douchebag in the corner, her head thrown back in laughter. Seriously? The guy is clearly undressing her with his eyes - right in front of her - and she’s buying this?

When the douchebag moves into her personal space, whispers in her ear and slides his hand down her ass to tug her close, Jeff has to use every shred of restraint not to go over. She’s an adult and he needs to let her handle it. See? Growth.

He manages to relax back against the bar, playing it as cool as possible as Annie finally wanders over a few minutes later, resting her elbows on the bar as she orders a drink.

“New friend?” Jeff asks, and yeah, okay, so maybe not as much growth as he thought.

Annie rolls her eyes as she hands cash to the barman. “No, just another guy proving Britta right. Ugh! I hate it when that happens.”

Jeff frowns. “What does that mean?”

“Okay, so Britta bet that I couldn’t wear a dress like this without attracting a certain type of guy, mainly douchebags.”

“And you accepted her bet?”

She nods, clearly annoyed with herself, and plays with the straw in her glass. "I know, I know. Big mistake. It's just it was so sexist, it annoyed me!"

“What does she get now that she’s won?”

“I have to take part in her Psych study with Professor Duncan on Monday. Dammit! He still hates me from our failed experiment in the first semester.”

Jeff laughs into his fist. “At least I know that you accept bets. How about a new challenge?”

She narrows her eyes at him for a moment and leans towards him, curling her fingers around his forearm. “What did you have in mind?”

Did she mean to sound that breathlessly sexy?

He swallows hard, trying to keep his thoughts innocent, though it's really fucking difficult. “Twenty bucks those two are having sex.”

Annie follows his pointed gaze to the pool table. “What? No,” she says instantly, but then she catches herself and studies the pair with a frown. “Obviously they like each other. But no. You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Oh really?” Jeff downs the rest of his scotch. “Okay, if I’m right about this, I’ll let you wrap all my Christmas gifts.”

Her eyes brighten. “Really? Wait, isn’t it supposed to be something I want so I accept the bet?”

“Annie, you’ve been moaning about my gift wrapping for three years and now I’m giving you the chance to do something about it. Either way, we both win.”

She eyes him for a moment and then offers her hand. “Okay Winger, you got yourself a bet.”

 

~x~

 

It's nearly 11pm one night a week or so later when Jeff drives back from his grocery shop, thankful that the stores were open late enough to indulge his craving for Red Vines. He’s singing loudly to The Cure to counteract all the holiday songs that were driving him insane, when he spots something interesting on the sidewalk.

With a crafty smile he takes a detour to Annie’s apartment, whistling as he jumps out of his car, walks up three flights of stairs and knocks on their door.

Abed answers, a bowl of popcorn in one hand.

“Jeff. Perfect timing. I was just about to watch Revenge of the Nerds.” He lets him inside. “We’re both nerds, let’s have our revenge.”

“Against what?”

“Life, Jeff. Life.”

Jeff frowns, watching his friend sit back in his recliner. “Abed, you okay?”

“Yes.”

Stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets, he bounces on his feet and looks around. “So…no Troy?”

Abed stares at him impassively. “He’s visiting his Dad.”

“Really?”

“No. But you knew that already.”

Jeff sighs and tries not to smile. “Is Annie here?”

Abed waves a hand towards her closed bedroom door and presses play on his remote. Clearly the conversation is over. Jeff walks over and knocks lightly. It’s a minute before she opens it, rubbing her eyes in the most adorable way and _holy crap_ she’s wearing his t-shirt…she’s wearing his t-shirt to bed.

If he could groan out loud right now, he would.

“Damn, I woke you," Jeff says. "I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Annie says through a yawn, stretching her arms high above her head, and Jeff swallows hard at the taut outline of her braless breasts underneath the soft material.

“Nice t-shirt. Looks familiar…”

She’s confused until she glances down and gasps, tugging it further down the tops of her thighs. “Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s…it’s comfy to sleep in. I’ll wash it and give it back to you.”

He smiles at her flushed cheeks. “No, keep it. You've probably stretched it out now." Jeff can tell she's taken offense to that and before she has time to object he quickly adds, "Plus it looks better on you anyway and that’s saying something.”

“Thanks.” She smiles coyly, twisting her fingers together in the material and then stopping abruptly when she realizes she's messing with his shirt. “So, um, what are you doing here?”

“Well, the thrill of victory has kind of worn off now that I’ve woken you but here.” He passes her his phone, smiling at the gasp she emits once she’s studied the picture he’d taken.

“When did you…?” Annie wonders.

“About ten minutes ago on Third.”

“Wow, that’s...That's  _a lot_ of tongue,” she says, a little grossed out about it, and hands him back his phone. “It doesn’t prove they’re having sex though.”

He tilts his head. “It doesn’t?”

“No. We’ve kissed like that and we’ve not had sex.”

She flushes red, her face a little shocked, but all Jeff can think about is _yet_. They haven’t had sex _yet_.

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point. I'm not sure though.”

“They’re having sex.”

“Abed!" she gasps. "How do you know?”

“I walked in on them in the janitor’s closet a week ago.” Abed doesn’t remove his gaze from the TV, though his program is paused now. “Honestly Annie, I’m disappointed you didn’t notice sooner. Troy’s hardly ever here anymore.”

“Dammit!”

"So…" Jeff smiles and leans against the doorframe. “Should I buy the wrapping paper or should you?”

 

~x~

 

On Christmas Eve, Annie sits barefoot and cross-legged on the floor of Jeff’s living room, surrounded by rolls of wrapping paper and unwrapped gifts. Jeff watches her from his couch, beer in hand, as she cuts precise lengths of sticky tape and presses the oblong shapes along the edge of his coffee table in preparation.

“You know most people just rip the tape with their teeth as they wrap each present, right?”

Annie doesn’t look up from her task. “Yes, I’m well aware. That’s how presents end up looking like a three year old wrapped them.”

“For the record, Annie, not everyone has time for precise corners and pretty bows. You still liked the gift underneath didn’t you?”

She grins. “Of course, but seriously, Jeff? You’re better at pottery than you are at gift wrapping and that’s saying something.”

“Okay, what were the apartment rules I told you?”

Annie finally turns to look at him, smiling mischievously. “Um…never mention Rich, pottery or Tyra Banks?”

“That’s right. And you just broke a rule, so you’re going down.”

Jeff places his beer on the table and walks over to where she’s sitting. Her neck arches at his height above her and she sits in his shadow.

“What are you doing?” she asks as he crouches down, inching closer, and her voice quivers nervously, uncertain. “Jeff _…_ ”

Soon he has her in fits of giggles, his fingers dancing lightly along her sides as she screeches, "Stop, I'm ticklish! I'm too ticklish!" She twitches and rolls backwards, unable to stop the lurch of her body and Jeff can’t help smiling too. He only tears himself away when she gasps sharply and clutches at her side.

“Shit, are you okay?” He eases her up into a seated position and gently rubs her back. "I'm sorry."

“Yeah, it just twinges sometimes.” She studies his face and squeezes his arm in reassurance. “Honestly, Jeff, I’m fine.”

He holds her gaze for a few moments to check she’s being truthful and then finds his eyes dropping to her lips and then lower when he notices her top has skewed in the struggle, scooping low to the edge of a pink lace bra, cleavage full and heaving.

Annie must sense the change in the air as she follows the line of his vision and quickly adjusts her top and checks her tousled hair. Jeff moves into the kitchen, mouthing 'Fuck" as he stares long and hard into the refrigerator.

“So, do you want food?" he asks, his voice strained. "I could make us grilled cheese.”

“Um, sure. But don’t you have to leave for your mom’s soon?” She checks her watch. “Isn’t that why I’m here wrapping these gifts for you?”

“No, she’s celebrating with her new gentleman friend and I didn’t want to hang around to see that.” He shudders at the thought, his face wrinkling. He loves his mom but she's been known to be a bit _too_  affectionate with her new...male friends. “I’m not seeing her till New Year’s,” he finishes.

“Oh, so you dragged me here under false pretences? I could have wrapped these another day you crafty -” Annie pauses. “Wait, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing. Sleep late, watch movies, eat take out. Whatever I feel like.”

She marches over, watching him intently as he focuses on gathering ingredients for dinner. “On your own?”

“Annie, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“I don’t want you to be on your own, Jeff. What did you say to me two months ago?” she asks, and Jeff shrugs, not following. “You said if I was ever alone I should come over and we could be alone together," she continues. "So let’s do that. Let’s be alone together.”

This had the potential to be very dangerous and the images flooding his brain were not helping.

“I thought you were spending the day at the movies with your Bubbe?”

“Not this year.” Her jaw tightens a little. “She’s at my mom’s.”

Jeff trails a soothing palm up and down her arm. “So you were going to spend Christmas alone too and didn’t tell me?”

“Well, that was only because I thought you were at your mom’s. And I'm Jewish so it doesn't really bother me.”

He pauses, eyeing her intently, slowly grinning at the hope rising in her eyes, but really he’s already made up his mind. “Okay, you got yourself a deal.”

Annie grins like she's won something, clapping and bouncing as she goes back to finish the gift wrapping while Jeff makes dinner. In five minutes, he’s gone from absolute indifference to the Christmas holiday to feeling like a kid excited for Santa. But the biggest surprise of all?

He’s okay with that.

 

~x~

                       

Annie arrives at 10am.

The snow has fallen since the early hours so she’s dressed for the winter weather, and Jeff can barely make out where the layers of clothes end and Annie begins. He helps unravel her huge purple scarf, holding one end as she spins, spraying his floor with flakes of melting snow until the doormat is cold and damp.

Once she’s dressed in just her jeans and a festive knitted sweater, Annie starts to fuss with the bags at her feet. Her socks are festive too - decorated with tiny Christmas puddings and leaves of holly and just the sight makes Jeff smile.

“What the hell did you bring?” he asks, suddenly aware of how many bags she has.

“The most important thing.” Annie pulls out a small fibre optic Christmas tree, flicking the switch at the base until it starts flashing colored light intermittently. “Ta-da!”

“What. Is. That?”

“It’s called a tree, Jeff. People like to decorate them for Christmas, you know, to be festive.”

Jeff grins wide and folds his arms as she arranges the tree on his kitchen bar. “Oh, is that right? Well, I’ll sleep better knowing that.”

“You don’t even have any decorations!" Annie says, gesturing to the emptiness of his apartment. "You’re such a bah-humbug.”

“It’s too much hassle. There’s the tree and the mess they make and the hours spent unravelling lights and there’s always a broken tree ornament, and then there's the pain when you step on it.”

“Aww, did you step on a broken tree ornament, Jeff?”

“Maybe.”

Annie giggles as she digs around in her purse. “Well, your argument is irrelevant. You need a tree so I can put this there.” She chews on her lip as she pulls out a small flat box with a shiny gold bow.

“Annie…”

“I know we’ve already done Secret Santa but this is nothing.” She bounces on her feet, clasping her hands tight against her bust. “Open it, open it!”

"You're pretty excited considering this is supposedly nothing," Jeff says, and tugs cautiously at the ribbon, feeling her eyes on him the whole time.

With the wrapping at his feet, he lifts the tissue paper and pulls out a thin silver case engraved with the Scales of Justice. He fingers the engraving for a moment and then looks up, a mixture of intrigued and confused. Annie nods encouragingly then, so he flips open the case and the breath catches in his throat.

Inside is an ivory business card with Jeff Winger: Attorney at Law centred in black lettering and a single gold line border. It's simple yet classy and everything he would choose if he'd done it himself.

“Annie, this is -” He shakes his head, unable to finish the train of thought as everything seizes inside him.

“It’s a reminder," Annie says softly. "You might not be a Lawyer yet, but you will be. Soon. So, you know, if you ever feel down again about where you are in your life you can just look at this. All the frustration you’ve felt, the worries, and all the work will soon be worth it. It will get you through exams next semester. Think of it as a tiny vision board.”

She stares at him with a smile and he holds her gaze for a long time – too long – as he watches her swallow hard and the flush climbing her cheeks.

“Annie, this is the most thoughtful gift anyone’s ever given me.”

“It’s just a silly little thing, Jeff.” Her hand flutters carelessly. “It’s nothing.”

“You've said that already but it’s not, it’s everything. It’s…I mean…you definitely think I’ll be a Lawyer again?”

He never realized how much he doubted himself until that moment and maybe that's what that niggling feeling has been this whole time. How the hell did she figure it out before he did?

Annie looks at him as if he was ridiculous to even question it, and steps closer to grip his forearms. “Of course I do. I believe in you.”

She says it so fiercely, almost passionately, that he almost believes it. Jeff wraps his arms around her waist and she squeaks as he lifts her off her feet to hug her body tight, needing and wanting to absorb all her faith in him and bathe in it in case no one ever thinks that way of him again. He feels a rising swell of emotion he doesn’t quite know what to do with.

“Thank you, Annie.” He presses his lips to her temple, just barely, and squeezes tighter when she does the same.

“You’re more than welcome,” she says huskily, and pats his back. “Now put me down. I’ve got baking to do.”

He leans back to study her face, realizing he’s pretty much holding her like some kind of ragdoll. “You’ve got what now?”

Annie smiles impishly as he puts her back on her feet, immediately searching the bags for ingredients. Once the contents are spread out in Jeff’s kitchen, she spends the next two hours baking cookies, wearing a cute 1950s apron that he teases her for constantly.

“Shut up, Jeff, it was my Grandmother’s, it’s vintage!”

Jeff pours her a glass of wine and sits on the couch nursing a beer, flicking through the TV channels. The sugary scent of baking, and the noise they make chatting back and forth, gives Jeff’s apartment a homey feel that makes his chest ache if he lets himself think about it.

“Did your mom ever bake Christmas cookies?” Annie asks as she unties her apron.

Jeff frowns, trying to think about it. “You know, I can’t remember. My memories of Christmas are more related to watching the door waiting for my Dad to arrive. I don’t really remember the cookies. She might have done.” He glances at Annie watching him with a soft understanding smile, and shrugs one shoulder. “I think it was just as tough on her, my Dad not being around. You feel it extra at Christmas, the loneliness.”

“I know. I’m glad I’m here too.”

He matches her smile and pats the seat next to him. “Come Betty Crocker, we have much lazing to catch up on.”

With a roll of her eyes, Annie snatches her wine glass and a plate of warm cookies and joins him on the couch, curling her legs to one side. “What’s on the laziness agenda?”

“There’s no agenda, Annie. We just flick through the channels and find a shitty Christmas movie which we watch until we’ve lost the will to live from all the sickening displays of Christmas joy.”

“Oooh yay! And I was worried that I was going to have to call you Scrooge.”

“Jeff will be fine.” He smirks as she smacks his chest and points wildly at the TV, nearly choking on her wine.

“Oooh, oooh, go back, go back! Home Alone is on.” She scoots closer until her knees are pressed into his thigh. "I love this movie."

For a while they watch in a comfortable sort of silence, laughing and eating cookies and Jeff can’t deny how happy he feels right now – it’s ridiculous.

“You know, in the real world getting hit in the face with an iron would probably kill a person,” Jeff says and Annie rolls her eyes. “What? It’s the law of physics. You drop an iron from a great height, it will kill you, or at least give you brain damage.” He points at the screen. “The guy just gets up and has an iron print on his face. It wasn’t even hot!”

She laughs, “Are you finished?”

“For now, although if we watch Home Alone 2, don’t get me started on when Kevin throws bricks from -”

Jeff stutters and nearly chokes, completely taken by surprise when Annie stuffs a cookie into his mouth, a brazen look in her eye as she giggles and watches him chew.

“You know…” he starts, and wipes his mouth. “I can feed myself.”

Annie smiles, dusting the crumbs from his sweater. “I know. I just wanted to shut you up. We’re missing the best bits.”

Jeff shakes his head with a smile as she presses herself into his side and he can’t help but stretch his arm across her shoulder and pull her close because, well, he wants to and because he can. And when Annie rests her hand low on the hard planes of his stomach, she glances up to catch his gaze, a little surprised to find him already staring at her - but how can he not?

Their eyes hold for a long time and their smiles match and as she looks back at the TV, Jeff feels like something important just happened.

 

~x~

 

After they’ve watched two more festive movies and eaten Chinese take-out, Annie catches sight of the sun setting in the distance, turning the sky pastel peach, and hurriedly starts to redress in her winter layers, insisting they go for a walk to get some fresh air and walk off their lunch. Jeff complains the whole time he stuffs his feet into boots, but this is Annie and he’s well aware she can get him to do anything.

Alan would probably say he was whipped but Jeff doesn't care enough to mind.

Outside, the streets are eerie and silent and the snow makes everything new and bright. Their footsteps crunch, breath sharp in white puffs of air, and at some point, it seems kind of natural to thread their fingertips together, to huddle close against the cold. They acknowledge it with a shared smile before Annie blathers about how pretty everything is and Jeff watches her with full agreement.

It starts snowing again and Jeff’s designer boots aren’t really designed for this kind of weather, so they amble back slowly, stepping in their old footprints. They’re so bone cold by the time they reach his building, that on the ride up to his apartment Jeff wraps Annie tight and they’re too busy sinking into the embrace that the elevator returns to the ground floor.

At the end of the night, Annie lies curled asleep on the couch with the kind of tiredness you feel by drinking alcohol and doing nothing, and Jeff covers her with a blanket. As he strokes her hair she hums into the cushion, utters “Jeff” on a breathless whisper, and his heart flutters and _holy crap_ are those butterflies?

Oh my God, he wants her.

The need is so overwhelming it’s now a physical ache pressing deep in his chest and he can’t deny it anymore, he just can’t. Sure, he wants her in his bed. He always has done. But he wants this, too: Annie, filling his apartment with laughter and chatter, making him feel like he’s not alone, that it’s okay to need someone. It’s terrifying but this woman has weaved herself into his life so effortlessly, so seamlessly that he doesn’t know what’s been holding him back, his mind genuinely blank as to all the reasons and excuses he’s compiled over the years.

And just like that, he’s lost the endless battle with himself.

He wants her and he’s going to have her.

 

~x~

 

When Annie insists that she doesn’t want any fuss for her birthday three days later, the group go to the movies.

In the foyer of the multiplex, Jeff hangs with Britta while the others join the line for tickets and popcorn and Annie points to a brightly colored slushed drink that Jeff knows is going to turn her lips blue. She never learns.

“So…did Annie tell you if she’s going on a date with that guy?”

Jeff’s gaze snaps to Britta because what? “What guy?”

“Oh, this guy in my Psych class asked her out. They hit it off during the experiment. I just wondered if she had decided yet.”

“No, she hasn’t mentioned seeing anyone," Jeff says, trying not to sound as annoyed as he feels. "Why?”

“Huh? Oh, I just wondered if there was any reason why she seems so reluctant to go on dates. We’ve set her up and every date has either been terrible or she has nothing in common…blah blah blah. There’s got to be a reason, right?”

“That’s the nature of dating, Britta. You of all people should know that.”

Britta shrugs and Jeff follows her line of vision to where Annie and Troy are standing in line, laughing and playing some sort of hand clapping game. He smiles and releases a heavy breath of relief.

“Annie’s not into Troy anymore, Britta.”

She looks at him, startled. “What?" she says with a laugh, though it's definitely awkward. "I don’t care if she is.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” His eyebrows rise perceptively and Britta’s jaw drops and Jeff can’t believe the flush climbing her cheeks as he asks, “So, what’s new with you?”

“Nothing.” She fiddles with the cuff of her leather jacket. “What are you doing for New Year?”

Jeff laughs as Shirley wanders over smiling. “Oooh, what are you two whispering about?” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Nothing!” Britta shouts quickly.

“Mmm-hmm.” Shirley turns to the rest of the group as they wander over with their tickets and snacks. “Right, we ready? Birthday girl chooses the seats.”

“Shirley," Annie starts tightly. "I’m twenty-two not five.”

“I know sweetie, I know.”

As they walk into the theatre Pierce stumbles and trips _“Damn this low level lighting!”_ and Troy soon follows, catching his feet on Pierce’s legs, screaming  _“Oh my God I’m gonna die!”_  as Britta staggers backwards, thrown by Troy’s dive, and Shirley’s popcorn ends up everywhere. Jeff and Annie stand behind with matching bemused expressions whilst Abed opens his box of Milk Duds, watching the pre-show happily.

Once Jeff and Abed have pulled Pierce from the floor and Britta helps Troy fish popcorn kernels out of his hair, Annie returns with more popcorn for Shirley and everyone moves to the back row.

Annie stands on the steps shaking her head, watching everyone take their seats. She’s playing with the necklace he gave her that afternoon and Jeff’s insides feel all warm and twisty.

He leans down to whisper in her ear. “Can’t take them anywhere, can we?”

“No.” She blushes and giggles and digs around in her coat pocket. “Here, I got you these.”

He smiles. “Red Vines. Thanks.”

The lights dim as they take their seats next to Abed, and everyone stops fidgeting to watch the trailers that have suddenly brightened the rows of seats and faces. Jeff couldn’t care less what movies are coming in 2013; he’s more interested in Annie’s right hand casually laying on the armrest and how much he’d like to hold it. He shifts around in his seat and flexes his fingers, clenches and unclenches his fist, new and unsure of the sensation. He looks to his left along the row; his friends all happily engrossed in the screen, munching on snacks.

There are absolutely no reasons for holding Annie’s hand. She’s doesn’t need his support, it’s not cold and they’re not watching a scary movie. He wants to hold her hand because it’s hers and if he doesn’t touch her soon he might actually punch something. But somehow, not having the reasons to fall back on makes the action all the more terrifying.

Taking a deep breath, Jeff carefully slides his palm over Annie’s hand, tensing at the sound of her tiny gasp. She doesn’t look at him and she doesn’t move. He continues slowly then, lacing his fingers with hers until her soft warm hand is engulfed in his and his thumb brushes against hers. After a minute she relaxes and so does he, though his heart is racing.

They hold hands until the movie ends and when the lights brighten and everyone starts to move and murmur, Annie turns to him, eyes full of questions and Jeff looks at her intently, hoping this time, his are full of answers.

Her slow smile makes him think yes.

 

~x~

 

When Jeff wakes the next morning a wave of anticipation rolls through him, and it takes him a while to figure out the feeling playing in his chest. It's the same kind of excitement he used to feel as a kid waking up on his birthday, until he realized his Dad hadn’t sent him a card. 

He has to speak to her.

He’s never been one to put much effort into anything and now this thing between them has snowballed and picked up more ground and the effort to deny it is just too damn much.

When he calls, Annie answers on the first ring, as usual. The sound of her voice makes his heart skip like a five year old girl but he’ll worry about that later.

“So, do you want to hang out tonight?” he asks, grinning all the while.

“I can’t. There’s been some…” She pauses. “Developments.”

Oh look, there’s the feeling he was waiting for. Disappointment.

“What do you mean?”

“When we got home last night, Troy mentioned having plans today and Abed went weird.”

“Weird? Isn’t that Abed’s M.O?”

“Jeff!" she scolds. "I’m really concerned about him. I don’t think he knows how to handle what he’s feeling. You can’t go from having your best friend around all the time to nothing and not feel conflicted, even if you seem emotionless at times.”

Well, he knows that. He felt the same way not too long ago.

“So what happened?”

Annie sighs. “We ended up having this weird roommate meeting in the Dreamatorium. He said things like the ‘fellowship has been broken’ and ‘the three amigos are no more.’ I could go on. Basically, Troy and I are hardly home at the moment and Abed’s been feeling abandoned and you know what happens when he feels abandoned.”

“Yeah, I’d like to get through a year without having to sing for Abed’s sake again.”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of fun,” she says with a laugh. “Anyway, we agreed to spend time together just the three of us. They’re even going to let me rap with them! Can you believe that?”

He smiles at the excitement in her voice. “Damn, and I’m going to miss it.”

“You’ve probably already heard it. I tend to repeat my raps a lot. I’ve got a very small set list.”

Jeff laughs but ends up feeling kind of flat afterwards. “So, I guess I won’t see you until next year.”

“What? Why? What about tomorrow?”

“It’s New Year’s Eve and I’ve promised to see my mom, remember?”

“Oh. Well," she mutters, sounding as disappointed as he feels. "I hope she appreciates the beautiful wrapping job I made of her gifts.”

“Of course she will.”

There’s a brief pause and Jeff hears some kind of commotion in the background and the static of the phone.

“I’ve got to go," Annie says then. "We’re starting the Harry Potter movie marathon. I’m currently dressed like Hermione Granger.”

He laughs. “Who’s your Ron Weasley?”

“Troy.” She lowers her voice. “Between you and me, he’s not really pulling off the ginger wig.”

“Well, you’ve got to have the skin tone and blue eyes to really make it work.”

“Or green eyes.”

“No, I’m definitely thinking they have to be blue.” There’s a brief yet heavy pause and Jeff wishes he was having this conversation in person so he can see her face. “Okay, well, until next year milady.”

It's a little quiet and then Annie whispers, “Until then, milord.”


	8. January 2013

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** This chapter is rated Mature for sexy times. Not explicit by any means - I was going for romantic to be honest - but I don't wish to offend anyone. Also, I mention Shirley's first wedding anniversary here as I ignored that the hiatus happened and the episode featuring her re-wedding to Andre would have aired in January. :)

_**January 2013** _

 

With his mom so overjoyed to see him at New Year's, Jeff spends the first three days of 2013 at her small apartment in Denver. He sleeps mainly, and does a few odd jobs here and there, and even has dinner with her new friend, but the whole time Jeff has somewhere else he wants to be, _someone_ else he really wants to see.

So when he finally arrives back in Greendale, he heads straight to Annie’s apartment, a surge of anticipation the closer he gets. He’s spent days building to this moment and now that it's finally here, he can’t afford to lose his nerve. 

He's ready.

Still, he takes a moment to steady himself, and thinks back to that day in the summer when he stood in this very spot staring intently at the apartment number, not quite sure why he was there.

He knows now.

With a deep reassuring breath and a final nod, he knocks on the door before he can change his mind. It's silent while he waits, that unsettling kind of quiet that invites doubts and questions, but thankfully it only takes another minute for Abed to appear. He barely opens the door but it's enough to show he's wearing a black spandex jumpsuit.

“Jeff.” He stares, unblinking. “We’re in the middle of something. Please return later,” he says, and closes the door.

Jeff frowns at the door, more confused than anything - and maybe a touch offended - but he knows when not to question shit Abed does so he rolls his eyes and turns to leave. It's a little disappointing but nothing he won't get over eventually. He's barely made it two steps when the door opens in a wide rush, and his heart hammers as Annie beams at him.

He's distracted by her face at first, and the way her smile meets her eyes and how she seems so happy to see him, but soon enough he notices she's dressed in the same black jumpsuit as Abed and…wow. He has to stop his jaw from dropping wide.

Holy highlighted curves batman. It's _really_ working for her. She should wear that all the time, everywhere she goes.

“Jeff, you’re back!” She almost jumps at him, her hands curling under his arms to clutch at his back, and he stumbles from the force of her embrace. “Happy New Year!”

His fingers tighten around her waist and it takes everything in him to stop his hand from taking the natural path it wants to go. "Didn’t we say this two days ago?”

“Not in person. It's not the same,” she says as she pulls away, taking a moment to smooth out a wrinkle in his shirt where she crushed against him because she knows how much he hates that. “Anyway, how was your mom?”

“Good. She liked the wrapping," Jeff says, earning him a delighted smile. "Her friend is actually pretty nice, too.”

“See, what did I tell you? Still can’t say boyfriend though?” she teases.

“No way," he says, scrunching his nose a little. "Not where my mom is concerned. She doesn’t have…them.”

“Well, she does, Jeff. You just don’t like to think of her as a woman who still likes-”

“Not listening!” Jeff slams fingers in his ears. “La la la la la la la!”

Annie shakes her head, shoulders dancing as she laughs. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but I make it work,” he agrees, and meets her smile. “So, any plans tonight?”

“Britta’s coming over for movie night and we’re ordering pizza. You should join us.”

“Will you be wearing that?”

He points to her jumpsuit and she flushes, ducking her head as she pinches at the fabric on her hip. It pings back into place with a snap that might as well be a jolt right to his dick.

“Um, no, this is purely for the Dreamatorium. I’ll change.”

“Shame.”

“Jeff!” she says, all breathy and scandalous and eyes wide.

“What?” he asks, and lets his eyes trail and linger. “It’s a very good look for you, Annie.”

Annie ducks her chin again and fingers the neck of her jumpsuit almost nervously. Her demure little smile warms him, lets him know she's secretly pleased with his attention, and all Jeff can think is pink glossy lips he hasn’t tasted since August, and it feels instinctual to reach out and tug her against him. She squeaks as he leans forward, eyes dark with intent, lips a whisper above hers so close he can taste it, but she shoves him hard, throwing him off balance.

“Stop that!” she says with a hiss, and points at him wildly, cheeks all flushed, and Jeff wonders if he got this all wrong because if he did, he’s going to need some serious therapy.

“What?” He holds up his hands in surrender. “What did I do?”

Annie looks back at the front door before closing it quietly and moving further into the hallway, taking a deep breath as she faces him. “I know you don’t like to talk about things, Jeff, but we need to because you…You hold my hand at the movies and tell me you want to be my Ron Weasley.”

He winces at this – not his smoothest moment.

“You meant that, right?" she continues, more hesitant than before. "Because I don’t know for sure and I’ve been playing it over and over and then you text me all New Year’s and you flirt and you just tried to kiss me and I just don’t understand, Jeff!”

He huffs out a laugh. “What don’t you understand?”

“Why you did all those things.”

“Don’t you want me to do those things?”

“Irrelevant! That’s not the question I asked you crafty jackrabbit!”

His smile dissolves when he notices the seriousness etched into her features, that's she's not flirting or joking and this is serious now, and he can't believe she doesn't know.

“Annie, I did those things because I wanted to, because…” he trails off and swallows hard, unsure how to encapsulate how he really feels before he settles on, “I care about you.”

“Really?”

The surprise in her voice tightens his jaw and he finds himself shaking his head in disbelief. Now he’s pissed because this is not how he envisioned the night going.

“I don’t know how you can question that. I thought it was goddamn obvious how much I care about you, Annie.”

He can tell she’s shocked by his raised voice - and maybe even by his words - by the way she blinks owlishly, but she recovers pretty quickly.

“Yes, but just once I need to hear you say it!” she admits. "I can't keep guessing this, Jeff. It's confusing."

This was not what he had in mind when he drove here, and that fact has him tightening his fists. “Fine, but you need to understand that some people prefer to let their actions speak for them.”

She scoffs at that. “You’re a Lawyer! Words are your profession.”

“Well, I don’t hear you telling me how you feel?” He studies her face as she swallows, her gaze floor-bound, and her silence tells him everything. “Yeah, just what I thought.”

Annie folds her arms sharply but it feels like a long time before she looks at him, and her voice is quiet and too-controlled when she says, “Why would I put myself out there like that, when in the past you’ve treated what we supposedly had together as something that was entirely in my imagination? Why would I do that to myself again? Do you think I’m stupid?”

Jeff blinks at her for a long moment because she's right, of course she's right and he's an idiot, and he takes a breath to hopefully steady his heart.

“No, I don’t. I think you’re…lovely.”

She gasps, eyes wide, and he’s not surprised because words like _lovely_ are not his style.

“And I drove all the way here to ask you out on a date and I never do that Annie, ever," he carries on. "But the thing is just being your friend is not enough and it hasn’t been for a long time. And we can continue to kid ourselves if that’s what you want and I can do that – I’m the fucking master of it – but I don’t think you-”

Annie makes a frustrated noise in her throat and fists the lapels of his coat, pulling him down to her lips. The surprise soon melts and Jeff think yes, _god yes_ , _more, now_ , unable to stop the guttural sound escaping from deep within his chest. Her mouth opens against his and as their tongues tangle all messy and wet, Jeff stops thinking completely as his hands wander off to play.

The kiss deepens in intensity and they claw at each other, hands and fingers, mewls and moans, feet twisting and turning without direction. At some point he thinks they crash against the wall – it could be the door, it’s solid beneath his hands when he steadies them both – but all he can feel is Annie’s tongue meshing with his and her hot body thrust close and how perfectly her ass fits in his palms. When she finally pulls away, they’re both panting hard in a breathless sort of disbelief.

“You kissed me.”

It wasn’t what he had in mind to say but at least it’s better than _wow_.

Her chin lifts defiantly, a little at odds with the rosy smudge of her lips. “Yes.”

“It’s…so you feel the same?”

She smiles coyly, hands twisting together nervously as she nods. “I do, I do feel the same. I just needed to hear you say it. I’m not a mind reader, Jeff.”

The grin that overtakes his face actually makes his cheeks hurt. Every muscle relaxes as she returns his smile just as brightly and the relief has him grabbing her hand, and they both take a minute to just stare at their fingers entwined.

“Okay, so…it’s a date then?”

“Well," she starts, smiling. "You didn’t actually ask me…”

“I didn’t?” he asks with a grin, and she shakes her head all sweet and coy, and he’ll play this game, if that’s what she wants. “Annie, will you have dinner with me?”

Annie’s face softens and her smile makes his insides feel all twisty and the last time he felt like this was, well, never.

He’s done for, like, level five red alert screwed where this woman's concerned.

“I’ll think about it.”

She spins away to open the front door and Jeff is so concentrated on her ass that it takes him a full minute to realize what she just said.

“Wait. _What?_ ”

 

~x~

 

Five days later and Annie is slowly driving Jeff insane.

It’s a sneaky form of torment because only Jeff knows what she’s doing or why she's doing it. The group don’t know that on movie night she sat so close he could feel the heat of her radiating through his clothes – dangling temptation like a fucking carrot. The inflatable couch squeaked more than ever as Jeff couldn’t stop fidgeting and didn’t know what to do with his hands. Abed was not impressed, at least, he thinks he wasn’t. He can never tell.

But it was the knowing glint in Annie’s eye, the teasing curl of her lips, that really did it. She was playing him at his own game. Still, he can’t help but be impressed by how she’s handling herself, how much restraint she has.

Seriously, he’s Jeff Winger. Who could resist this?

 

~x~                                             

 

On Wednesday the group, minus Shirley and Pierce, head to the mall to pick up supplies for their return to Greendale the following week.

When Jeff first sees Annie’s text inviting him, he debates for hours whether he should go. It's not wise for his self-esteem – he knows he should just leave Annie to it, let her come to him, let her think she hasn't got to him in a way no other woman ever could – but then she slides into the passenger seat of his car and beams at him with a flirty smile and a bitten lip and, well, he’s way past the point of no return here.

While Troy and Britta wander off not being discreet at all - seriously, everyone else will find out soon if they're not careful - Jeff heads to Barnes & Noble with Annie and Abed. He follows Abed to the DVD section, perusing the titles, looking but not seeing. He can’t stop glancing down the aisle to where Annie stands, lips puckered in thought as she picks up a book to read the blurb on the back. She looks so beautiful, her hair lightly curled - she's curling it more and more now - lips glossed his favorite shiny pink, and _shit shit shit_ …He wants her so much he actually feels like he might throw something but everything in reach is breakable and having some kind of meltdown would only draw attention right now.

Abed appears soundlessly then and Jeff jumps – he completely forgot he was there.

“Jeff. I’ve chosen some appropriately themed movies for your moment of crisis.”

Jeff pats his shoulder. “No crises here, buddy.”

“Of course, because I _never_ know what I’m talking about.” Abed ignores Jeff's frown and instead offers him a stack of DVDs. “Sarcasm over. Here. We have _When Harry Met Sally, Reality Bites_ and _Some Kind of Wonderful_.”

“Those are all chick movies, Abed.”

“Stereotypically, yes, these movies are aimed at a female audience, to an extent. But they all explore the evolution of relationships between a man and a woman who start as friends.”

“Yeaahhhhh…I still don’t follow.”

Abed shakes his head again. “Amateurs. I can’t work like this,” he says, and turns away.

Jeff rolls his eyes, debating whether he should question this further but in the end he shrugs and spins and heads towards Annie where she’s juggling six books now, so engrossed in stretching for another she doesn’t sense his approach.

“Law books?" he asks and as she jumps, Jeff has to catch a book that flies out of her grasp. "You’re getting quite the head start on your reading list.”

“I don’t have a reading list for Law School," Annie says, and she actually sounds sad about that. "I don’t even have a Law School yet. These are just reading for pleasure.”

“Well, your definition of pleasure is not mine.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true, Jeff,” she says with a playful smile. “Right, I’m going to buy these. Meet you outside?”

He watches her bounce away, and his fists tighten with growing annoyance at her flirty act of nonchalance. He can’t believe he put himself out there, asked her on a date – a date for fucks sake – and she’s still treating the moment like it was nothing?

No, nuh-uh, this just won’t do.

“Hey Annie," he says. "You forgot these.”

She spins to face him, brow furrowed, her gaze darting everywhere in confusion. “Uh, Jeff," she starts slowly. "You’re not actually holding anything.”

“Sure I am. These are my puppet strings. You forgot to reattach them to my back. You know, because you’re playing me like a damn puppet.”

She gasps, “No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are. I mean, I’ve said that I care about you and I want you and I thought we were on the same page but apparently not. What’s a guy got to do to go on a date with Annie Edison, huh?! Because I’m not going to write you a stupid song like tiny nipples and serenade you in the quad. You know, I’ve never had to get on my knees and beg for a woman in all my life!”

By the time he's finished his little outburst the awareness of where they are slowly trickles in and the resulting silence is painful. There's even a little old lady at the end of the book aisle watching them both curiously, like they're the best kind of TV show, and...

Shit.

Annie stares up at him, wide eyed and motionless, and he's not surprised because he's feeling the same right now. After a moment she licks her lips and her voice is soft and unsure when she asks, “Would you? Would you beg?”

“Annie, these jeans cost more than your rent and have you seen the state of this floor? Never gonna happen.”

“Typical,” she says, and meets his playful smile. “Look, I’m sorry you feel that I’m treating you that way but I’ve been kind of busy. The world doesn’t revolve around Jeff Winger, you know.”

He smirks. “Now you’re just lying.”

“If you must know," she persists, after rolling her eyes, "I’ve got my interview at the University of Colorado on Friday and then one at Sturm College in Denver on Monday. I’ve been preparing all week.”

Well, shit.

Jeff scrubs a palm along his jaw. “Why didn’t you tell me? Do you…I mean. Annie, you’ve been driving me crazy.”

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah. You’re even a perfectionist in forms of mental torture. I feel like I should give you a medal or a gold star or something.”

"I like gold stars," she beams and bites her lip a little. “But you can take me on a date instead. If you want to.”

Jeff grins and his heart lurches and spins and goes into free fall, and he's sure he'd blush if he did that sort of thing. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Jeff reaches out to push a lock of hair away from Annie’s eyes, his pulse quickening at the feel of her under his fingertips and the instant flush to her cheeks, and he just can't seem to look away. He treads closer, heat and need and want intensified and… 

“Do we still need these, Jeff?”

Annie breaks their gaze with a start and Jeff snatches his hand away as Abed appears out of nowhere, thrusting the same stack of DVDs in his face.

“Uh…no?”

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool.” He shoots them with finger guns and disappears to another aisle.

Jeff turns to Annie. “Don’t ask.”

"Wasn't gonna," she says with a smile.

They wander slowly towards the checkout, glancing at each other every now and then, eyes meeting above smiles and an air thick with promise. As they join the line, Jeff bumps her shoulder gently.

“Admit it," he says. "You were enjoying tormenting me.”

Annie peers at her books with renewed interest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

           

~x~

 

That Friday evening, Jeff settles in his usual spot on the couch with a beer, flicking idly through the channels. Once he's picked a random channel, he flips and twirls his phone, wondering if he should call Annie, debating if it’s too desperate and needy because it's only been two days since she agreed to go out with him. There's a process to this, and he needs to tread carefully, slowly, if he's gonna do things right this time.

He really wants to see her though so...

_Fuck it._

For some reason he nods his head repeatedly as he draws up her number in his contacts, like the action can somehow conjure the courage it takes to press call, and when she finally answers his heart kicks hard at the sound of her voice.

“Hey, so, how’d the interview go?” he asks, trying to keep it casual.

“I think it went really well!" Annie says, and there's a smile in her voice, probably the kind she always makes when she's pleased with herself. "I answered all of their questions, now I just have to wait. I guess you never really know but I feel positive.”

“I knew you could do it,” he admits, because he did. He doesn't have faith in many people but he believes in Annie. So much. “So, listen, I know I said I’d take you to dinner next week, and I still want to do that, but I just wondered if you wanted to come over….to hang out…with me.”

He cringes and mouths "Oh my god," feeling like he’s regressed to a teenager and maybe he has, what with the way his palms are sweating.

“Uh. You might want to open your door.”

Jeff stares at the door as if he has the power to see through it, then jumps up and rushes over, his adrenaline racing suddenly. When he sees Annie, carrying take-out and a six-pack of beer, he’s unable to stop the smile from crawling across his face, the awed shake of his head.

He cradles his phone to his ear. “Annie, what… damn, you really know how to blindside a guy.”

She laughs and hangs up, thrusting the bag and six-pack into his hands so she can shrug off her coat, eyes not once leaving his as she does. Jeff feels his breath rise and stomach flutter and oh my god, this is it, they’re really doing this.

Annie stands by the door and glances around the apartment as if she’s seeing it for the first time - ridiculous in itself - and for a moment the silence is awkward. Even though they’ve done this before, it’s different now – there’s anticipation and expectations and it’s really fucking scary.

But then their eyes meet and they share a smile and it's better. Annie squeezes his hand as he leads her to the couch and drops the food and the beer on the coffee table. She’s wide eyed when he cradles her face, threading just the tips of his fingers deep into her hair, and kisses her. It’s sweet and chaste but Jeff’s lips still tingle and he’s floored by her scent, all strawberry shampoo and fresh soap.

When he pulls back, she’s smiling softly, hands resting on his.

“Hi,” she says, breathlessly.

“Hey.”

He presses one last kiss to the corner of her mouth before they settle on the couch and Jeff scrolls through his TiVo to the last episode of _The Wire_ they watched when she was last here. Annie quickly grabs a few napkins from the drawer where he keeps them in the kitchen before she arranges the cartons of food on the table, separates the chopsticks and digs into a carton of Chow Mein. She dangles the noodles high, arching her neck as she pours them into her mouth and munches happily.

Jeff watches her with a smile. “You hungry?” he asks, and as she mumbles something, mouth full, in response, Jeff raises a palm to his ear. “Huh, what was that? I didn’t catch that over all the food in your mouth.”

There's no heat in the way she glares at him as she chews and swallows and licks the grease from her lips. “I said I was starving because I haven’t eaten today. I felt too sick before the interview.”

“I bet you nailed it.”

“You think?”

He rolls his eyes, mumbling while he eats. “Yes, Miss 4.0 GPA. I don’t get why you doubt yourself.”

She shrugs and shifts closer. “Same way you doubt yourself about being a lawyer again. I guess it’s natural to worry, especially when you want something so much.”

Yeah, that he understands.

“Right," he starts, noting the seriousness of the conversation. "I think we should make another apartment rule: no talking about school when we’re trying to -”

“You know, for someone supposedly so ‘laid back’ you sure have a lot of rules,” Annie says.

“Excuse me but you like rules just as much as me, if not more.”

“Yes, but at least I admit it out loud. I’ve accepted it. I am at one with my need for rules. Everyone else thinks you’re this lazy guy who disdains rules and structure, who gets up with perfect hair and throws on whatever clothes you find but you’re not, are you? I bet you hang out your outfit for the next day, just like me.”

Jeff shrugs one shoulder. “You have no proof.”

“Well, I’ll find out soon enough.”

His eyes find hers quickly then, and her wicked smile is like a kick of pleasure, fire, right through him. “Why, Miss Edison, do you plan on having your way with me?”

“Maybe," she says, and now it's her turn to shrug. "Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jeff shakes his head with a smile, stretching an arm behind her, his fingers finding strands of her hair to play with as they settle in close. “Do you think that Omar looks a bit like Professor Kane?”

She snorts. “Okay, Abed.”

“No, seriously, look.”

Annie tilts her head at the man on the screen. “Huh. Maybe.”

 

~x~

 

Two hours later the TV plays loud in the background but Jeff doesn’t care because he has Annie stretched out beneath him, her tongue wrapped around his, her thigh pressed against his waist tightening every time he does something she likes. Her hoodie is somewhere behind the couch and Annie quivers and melts as Jeff teases the flesh revealed by her camisole with a string of kisses.

It must be too much though because Annie pushes him against the cushions with more force than Jeff thought possible and straddles his lap instead, and he’s mesmerized, lips curling in delight at her playful expression. He noses her arched neck slowly, teases the sharp edge of her collarbone and presses a kiss to the pulse there, grinning when she shudders.

His hands land on her thighs as she presses forward to kiss him properly, her palms sliding down his chest and under the hem of his t-shirt. She doesn't pull it off, just lets her fingertips rest there lightly, but at the feel of her delicate touch low on his abdomen, Jeff realizes that things are maybe happening too fast and, surprisingly, that he wants to take this slow. He wants to draw it out and do things right because this is his Annie and she deserves everything, and that includes Jeff Winger at his best; his wit and charm as sharp as his shirt collar, a fancy restaurant and a $50 bottle of wine of the table.

With every shred of restraint he owns, Jeff lifts Annie off his lap, wincing at her squeak of disappointment, and groaning inwardly at the dishevelled lust-filled state of her; hair ragged from fingers, lips plump from his kiss.

His eyes follow the straps of her camisole and bra tugged down over one arm, and he has to clear his throat at the sight of more cleavage than he's used to. “We, uh, we need to stop.”

Annie shifts away from him, confusion and hurt wrinkling her brow. “Why? I thought that you wanted-”

“Annie, I do,” he says, watching her swollen pink lips. “Oh my God, you have no idea how much I want to but… I seriously can’t believe I’m about to say this…"

He takes a breath to steady himself and his thoughts and maybe kick himself a little because he just had Annie Edison laid out beneath him and he put a stop to it like a fucking idiot.

"I want to take you on a proper date, you know, pick you up and buy you dinner and then I’ll seduce you with my undeniable charm,” he adds finally.

"Okay," Annie chuckles, relaxing into the cushions. After a moment she chews on her lower lip and draws her palm slowly up his thigh, the tips of her fingers so close to the inner seam of his jeans. “Are you sure?” she asks.

Jeff tenses, unable to stop a tiny whimper escaping his clamped lips as he nods, too quickly to be casual now. Casual well and truly left the fucking building.

Annie grins. “I think I should go then.”

“Yes.” He can’t say much else because he’s concentrating too hard on not being too hard.

She sighs and holds his gaze intently as she fingers the thin strap of her camisole and bra and sets it back on her shoulder. “I guess I shouldn’t have bothered to wear that lingerie I bought from Victoria’s Secret…”

He growls then, bites down hard on his fist, and she chuckles, completely drunk on her own power.

“Just go. Now. I can’t even.”

At the door he loses himself in her hungry kisses and the way she clutches at him, and only remembers the worst plan of his life at the sound she makes when he sucks on a spot behind her ear.

He makes a mental note of that for later and thrusts her away, even though it pains him. She stumbles – clearly just as lost as he – but then she sees his face and smiles and bounces like she just can't contain her happiness. He only lets go of her hand when her fingertips are out of reach and once she steps inside the elevator, Jeff hits his head repeatedly on the closed door.

 _Now_ he decides to be a gentleman?

What. The. Hell?

 

~x~

 

On Monday, they return to school for their final semester.

It’s a big event for everyone and Jeff takes a moment to consider the enormity of the occasion. His life at Greendale is nearly over. The thought is more than startling, frightening actually, but then he’s drawn to Annie’s eyes fluttering across the study room table and part of him hates that he’s given her so much power by admitting how much she affects him. But then he remembers that by the end of the week he is going to have her spread out on his bed like a fucking feast and she will, once again, climb him like a tree and _shit_ …

What was he thinking about again?

He shifts uncomfortably and tries to think pure thoughts. But then he makes the rookie mistake of looking at Annie again, catching the mischief in her smile, and he knows what she’s doing, knows she’s winding him up like a toy and waiting for him to go but no…nuh-uh…it won’t work.

Okay, so maybe it works once in the storage closet after class when he presses her up against the shelves and trails his hand up her thigh and shoves his tongue down her throat as if he’s searching for the meaning of life – at one point he thought he found it. And yes, there was that time when she dropped her pen on the floor in front of him and he couldn’t resist grabbing her perfect ass and they ended up twisting and tangling the study room blinds.

What can he say? He’s horny and man is evil and whenever he’s around Annie, he’s been known to drop stuff, especially his super-strength resolve.

 

~x~

 

For their first date on Friday they go to an Italian restaurant on Main Street and Jeff requests a booth at the back where the lighting is low.

There’s a moment of awkwardness because this is different from the other times they’ve been out – there’s candles flickering on tables and Annie is wearing a short purple dress that frames her ass perfectly and makes Jeff want to get on his knees and beg for something.

They study their menus in a silence that lingers a beat too long and inwardly Jeff starts to freak out because what if this doesn't work out, what happens if it all goes wrong, but then their knees brush under the table and he catches her gaze and they both huff a laugh in an awkward sort of relief.

They both order steak and red wine and it takes one stray comment on whether the waiter resembles Dean Pelton or Moby, before everything becomes as effortless as it usually is between them. Jeff leans back in his seat, languid with wine and relief, watching Annie with a smile as she cradles her wine glass and laughs at his jokes and steals his fries. And it really is just like every other time they go out, except now Jeff can sit closer and thread his fingers with hers, or squeeze her thigh like he's always wanted to, or trace his fingers down the side of her face, and Annie can trail her bare foot up the inside of his calf.

It drives him fucking crazy.

Two hours later they walk back to his car holding hands, sharing laughter and smiles, but once they’re inside, once they stop, his car floods with silence. Their eyes meet and twinkle in the darkness barely lit by broken street lights. Annie licks her lips and Jeff swallows hard and suddenly it is _all too much_. He mumbles "Fuck" with a growl and pulls Annie over the centre console but it’s awkward and takes a few tries and by the time she’s straddling his lap, they’re both laughing and breathless.

“Well, that was fun!” she says.

Jeff tugs at her coat as he studies her flushed cheeks and lips slightly glossy and red from the wine and her eyes are glazed but she's not drunk. The laughter stops, sealing them in a strange vacuum of silence and heartbeats, and as soon as the dome light flickers off above them their mouths meet and roll, hot and wet, breaths harsh and frantic tongues.

They make out in the front seat of his car, hands and mouths desperate for everything, eager and unknowing where to start first. Jeff's hands slip beneath her coat, trailing her ribcage carefully, and Annie grinds against him, his moan captured by her mouth. He draws his tongue down the column of her neck, traces the pulse there, bites the flesh lightly because he just can't get enough and he can do that now. Her breathy whimpers hot against his ear do things to him and he just wants and needs so badly there’s a desperation running through his veins that threatens to burn, that itches restlessly in his fingertips.

His thumbs graze her cheeks as he cradles her face in his palms. “Annie, listen to me. I-”

Annie's spine visibly sags and the horn beeps as she struggles to move away. “You’re going to stop again, aren’t you? I’m not playing this game, Jeff. If you don’t want to do this-”

“What? No!” He palms her head tighter, trying to stop her from moving, to keep her eyes on his. “Does it feel like I don’t want to do this?” She flushes red, feeling him hard beneath her, as she tries to shake her head. “I just want you to listen to me because this is not the time for another miscommunication between us, okay?" he continues. "I'm trying to do this right.”

She swallows hard and nods, gaze expectant and filled with unease. Her silence is…unnerving.

“Annie…I want. Do you want to come back to mine?”

He’s breathing heavy now, watching the anxiety on her features twist into a mix of playfulness and relief as she fingers the collar of his dress shirt.

“I don’t know…” she murmurs, and it's the teasing little grin that does it.

“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have phrased that as a question. Let’s start again. Annie, I’m taking you home to my bed.”

“I think you just found your words.” She leans close to whisper all hot and breathy and he shudders. “Finally.”

 

~x~

 

Inside his apartment, the silence is overwhelming.

Neither speaks as Jeff unsnaps his belt and slides it out through the loops, the hiss and slap of leather so loud and final in the quiet. Annie shivers, though not from the chill, and bites her lip when he tosses it to the side. They watch each other as they toe off their shoes, and Jeff cradles Annie’s face, teasing her parted lips with his thumb before kissing her soundly. At first she’s all bubble-gum and gloss but then she tastes like the wine they had with dinner and Jeff is intoxicated by the confusing mix that is so very Annie.

He moves both hands down the arch of her neck, over her shoulders and softly down arms, wanting, needing to touch her everywhere. Palm against palm, he laces their fingers, raising them up, and his darkened eyes reflect hers as he backs her towards his bedroom with a determination he hasn’t felt in a long time.

He's desperate with it.

As he unzips her dress, her breath is hot and uneven against his skin and he moans in surprise when she kisses him there, stretching up on tiptoes to lick the erratic pulse at the base of his throat.

Jeff can’t get her dress off fast enough.

Annie must sense it too – the last threads of restraint pulling away from his tentative hold – as she attacks his buttons, yanking the shirt tails from his pants. His stomach muscles tighten at the feel of her palms running down the hard planes of his chest and the hungry look in her eye is a jolt to his already flustered state.

She likes what she sees and it means everything to him.

Her dress pools at her feet and she kicks it away, and the image of her pink bikini last summer is a distant dream and now it’s this he’ll remember – standing in the shadows of his bedroom in scraps of black lace. He fingers the scooped edge of her bra over the upper swell of her breasts and she shudders.

“Victoria’s Secret?” he asks.

“What gave it away?”

“Just a hunch…” he says, and they both grin.

He sees the moment she loses the fight with her indecision; shaking her hair over her shoulders, chin raised boldly. She reaches behind to unclasp her bra, teasing the straps down her arms once it goes slack and peeling it away. Her breasts rise with every breath and he’s speechless, unmoving, as she hooks her fingers into her panties.

Jeff eyes the length of her finally exposed to him in the moonlight, and he swallows hard because _holy fuck_ , she’s everything he imagined and more. He realizes he’s been staring too long when Annie starts to shift nervously, moving to cover herself, and he snaps himself out of it with a desperate growl. He draws her body against his, kissing her softly, murmuring against her mouth as they work together impatiently to remove the rest of his clothes.

Their naked bodies pressed close, Jeff feels every delicious curve of her as they take a moment to breathe, inhale exhale, chest against chest. He presses his forehead to hers for a moment, takes a minute just to _be_.

“You’re beautiful, you know that, right?” he says.

Annie flushes and smiles coyly before her palms slide to caress his backside and the noise that leaves his throat is inhuman.

"So are you," she whispers.

Their mouths are drawn like magnets, kisses hungry, tongues a sensuous dance. Jeff is lost in her, completely adrift, consumed by all things Annie as he cups the flesh and muscle of her ass and she groans into his mouth. The nerves start to fade and the desire rises, and as she reaches down to touch him, hesitant at first, Jeff’s eyes the ceiling with rising gasps and his brain stops functioning altogether.

It’s here, now, more, want, _Annie_.

He presses her gently onto the mattress then, leaning above her to kiss the length of her body, to explore and tease every pulse point, every curve, learn every path and peak that makes her spine arch and the breath catch in her throat just the way he likes. He makes every touch as soft as his desperate lips allow, and by the time his tongue reaches her mouth, she’s wet and trembling and whimpering and their lips melt together.

There’s no time for anything else when she whispers his name so breathlessly that he loses all track of seduction and foreplay and cool Winger charm as he breathes, “ _Fuck_ , I want you...this.”

Annie claws at his shoulders, kisses wet and deep, and draws her thighs around his waist, pinching the musculature of his upper back. He steadies her hips and enters her slowly and _Jesus_ , she feels amazing, he wants to tell her, he wants to tell her everything.

He wants to shout that he’s found his words.

But in the end there are no words. There are actions and feelings and he is lost in them as she traces one finger along his lips and he kisses it, heart kicking wild at how close they are, how real this is, how raw and honest this moment feels. They move and match, setting up a tentative rhythm at first but one shift of her hips and soon it’s effortless, soon it’s everything he’s been afraid of because it’s so very…right.

Their movements become more frantic and she writhes beneath him, skin slick with sweat, her voice a pleading whisper. He’s hyper aware of everything now, every shift of her hips, every whisper of her skin hot against his, but he forces himself to slow down, make it count.

Annie whimpers, head thrown back against the pillows, and Jeff swallows it with a kiss. It’s near impossible - the desperation he feels just to let go - but he wants to savour this moment, draw out this slow dance, entice this beautiful woman out of herself and into him, if that were possible, and holy crap, never let her go.

But when he does let go, finally, that moment when the world narrows and her name is torn from his lips and her screams bounce loud from his bare bedroom walls, he collapses, panting heavy, his cheek falling on her rising breast. Her legs rest boneless against the backs of his thighs and her arms circle to grip him tight, her fingers trailing his spine in soft soothing strokes and he feels different, like a milestone was met that he never even realized was there.

 

~x~

 

Later, they face each other in bed, a whisper between them, bodies cool, breaths even. The sheet is twisted across their lower halves and their hands are tucked under their pillows. They haven’t spoken yet and Jeff is nervous to break the beguiling silence that has taken hold of his bedroom. And he likes the way Annie is staring at him, studying his face as if it’s impossible for her to stop learning.

He gently pushes Annie’s hair over her shoulder, letting his fingers tease the naked curve, and grinning when she shudders a little at his touch. “So…what now?”

“I don’t know," Annie confesses. "What do you usually do?”

He raises one eyebrow. “Usually I roll over and go to sleep. But that wasn’t what I meant.”

“Oh, I see.” Annie shifts closer, her body flush against his. “You want to know what happens now that I’ve had my way with you.”

He chuckles, “Something like that,” as he smoothes the soft flyaway hairs at her hairline.

“I’m not giving you all the answers, Jeff.”

He sighs because honestly, he was kind of hoping she would.

“You know that I want you. Right?”

"Yes." She smiles wide and kisses the underside of his jaw a couple of times. “I’d have to be stupid not to realize that by now. Message received and understood.”

“Yeah, and I want us to be like… Annie, don’t make me say it,” he pleads.

She frowns. “Say what?”

Jeff exhales loudly, enough to move tufts of Annie’s hair. “I want you to be…mine, and only mine.”

Annie presses her face against his chest and Jeff feels her smile. “You mean like your girlfriend?” she asks.

“Yes,” he says, drawing out the word slowly.

“But wouldn’t that make you my boyfriend?”

“Ugh, I hate that word but technically…” He pauses in wonder for a second. “Annie, what the hell have you done to me?”

She giggles as her lips move closer. “I don’t know but I really like it.”

“Yeah? Okay, we are literally Abed’s wet dream right now. This is classic movie -”

“Eww, Jeff! Ruining the moment here.”

“Yeah, sor-”

She leaps forward to kiss him and he forgets everything he was going to say.

 

~x~

 

Jeff parks his Lexus outside Pierce’s mansion.

After checking his reflection in his rear-view mirror, he grabs the bottle of champagne just purchased and looks at it with disdain. He doesn’t feel like celebrating right now, even if it was Shirley’s ‘first’ anniversary party. It's not as if she hasn't been married before.

It's just...

He woke this morning with Annie breathing softly on the pillow beside him. As pathetic as it seemed, he watched her sleep for a while, took in every detail about her – the flutter of her eyelids and the fan of her hair – and his heart skipped like a little girl. She hummed into the mattress as he trailed the length of her naked spine with soft fingers and kisses, and he couldn’t believe the excitement he felt at all the possibilities now open to them, all the things they could do with their day.

He had plans. Lots of naked, dirty plans. Those dangerous thoughts he always had? He was gonna make full use of them, all over his apartment.

But then Shirley called – it was as if she knew he was trying to get some – panicking about setting up the party and, like the good friend she was, Annie offered her help, leaving Jeff behind with hurried kisses and a promise that she’d only be a couple of hours and they’d pick things up later.

They didn’t.

It’s now the evening and he’s filled with the kind of foot-stomping frustration he used to feel as a child when he didn’t get his own way. He wanders through the mansion, still surprised that Pierce let Shirley use it for her party because he's rarely that generous. It’s filled with random people Jeff doesn't know but he only has one person on his mind anyway.

After hugging Shirley and shaking Andre’s hand and pretending that he really cares about their marriage - Shirley beams at him so he was obviously pretty convincing - he finds Annie in the kitchen too busy making up a bowl of ice to sense his approach.

Jeff takes a moment to study the black silk of her dress and the way it dips low across her back, sliding along every curve he only learned the pattern of last night. Damn, how did he manage to keep his hands off her for so long? He deserves a medal or some sort of lifetime achievement award.

He can’t resist placing one hand on the counter either side of her body and leaning into her. Annie gasps and shudders, dropping chunks of ice onto the counter with a crack, and her sharp little intakes of breath do things to his insides and his ego.

He smiles into her neck.

“Jeff," Annie starts slowly. "What are you doing?”

He peppers the curve of her shoulder with kisses, pleased when he feels her shiver in response. “What does it look like I’m doing? Strike that, what does it feel like I’m doing?”

He can feel her body heat radiate through the thin silk of her dress.

“Playing with fire when you know that everyone is outside?”

“Well, you are hot and I like to live life dangerously.”

"Someone, someone could see," she says breathlessly.

"Don't care." He sucks on her pulse at the base of her neck and she leans into it.

“Jeff…we can’t," she says, although she doesn't sound convincing. "We said we’d wait.”

“Hmm. Did I imagine you waking up in my bed this morning? It wouldn’t be the first time.”

She feigns a gasp. “Jeff Winger, admitting he wants me! Who would have thought?”

“What can I say? I’m a new man.”

“I wouldn’t say new…maybe just evolved?”

He smiles, tracing the line of her collarbone. “Okay, you got me.”

The rise of her breathing is rapid and she moans, unconsciously pressing her backside into him. His response makes her straighten with a gasp.

“Jeff! Stop that!”

He laughs. “It’s not something I have any control over, Annie, especially not when you do that. And anyway…” He kisses her cheek, whispering close to her ear, “Don’t you want to?”

She sighs, all dreamy and happy, and reaches back to graze the scruff of his jawline as his hands span her ribcage, dangerously skirting her breasts. “You know that I do. I…I've thought about it all day."

"Yeah?" he grins, delighted, and his ego is just through the roof right now.

"Yes. But we need to wait until Monday.”

“Why is that again?”

“Because..." she trails off when he sucks on the spot behind her ear. "Because I promised Troy and Abed I’d spend time with them. You know the deal. We agreed to spend Sundays together, just the three of us. That's our day.”

“And what about tonight?”

“Tonight we’re here and I told Shirley I would help clean up afterwards.”

“Nope. I still don’t understand. I think you should explain it to me again, explain it to me the way you did last night.”

Annie flushes and turns back to her task. “No!”

Jeff groans and hooks his chin over her shoulder, his grip tight around her hips. “Annie, come on. Don't you know what happens when you finally give in to something you’ve been craving for years?”

Her hair tickles his cheeks. “No, explain it to me.”

He takes a moment to bite her earlobe, tugging it lightly before murmuring, “You kind of want to indulge and ravish and delight in what is finally yours, for many uninterrupted hours.”

"Ravish? Did you just say ravish?"

"Yep. This is what you've done to me." He trails the bumps of her spine and he loves that he can do that now. “Once is not enough.”

“Technically it was twice, or did you forget attacking me at 4am when I went to get a glass of water?”

He smiles at the memory of spreading her out on his kitchen bar and moans loudly, bouncing on foot with frustration. “Annie…”

“Jeff, the sooner you face the obstacles preventing you, the sooner you can ravish. Don’t you think?”

She turns to smile at him, giving his shoulder a little commiserative tap as she does, and Jeff can’t help but smile back with an awed shake of his head. Formidable face plus seductive smile equals goner.

Dammit, she was always good at calculations and they were always his weak spot.


	9. February 2013

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** Okay, so there's a scene here where I full on visit cliché town but I don't care. Annie's a romantic guys. Let me have this one. ;P

_**February 2013** _

 

One evening Jeff stretches out on his couch with Annie on top of him, chest against chest. Their legs tangled, her feet brush against his shins and every so often her toes curl inside the hem of his jeans to tickle him there. After a while she props her chin on one hand to watch him, eyes the bluest he’s ever seen – even in the muted light of the lounge. They finished dinner a while ago and their coffees sit half full on the table, engulfed by a silence so hypnotic neither wants to break.

They do this a lot; stare at each other, listening to the sound of their heartbeats, stealing smiles and touching skin, wherever they can reach. Jeff never realized that he could feel this kind of comfort with someone, this kind of closeness. It’s a new experience but weirdly satisfying and gives him butterflies.

_Butterflies._

He should be more worried about this.

Annie traces her fingertip down the arch and point of his nose, smoothing the pad across his top lip, lingering against the tiny indentation Jeff forgets is there sometimes.

“How did you get this scar?” she wonders.

Jeff smirks. “You did it, when you punched me in the face two years ago.”

“I did not! I punched you in the nose. That wouldn’t result in this tiny scar above your lip, Jeff. Aww, did you cut yourself when you first started shaving?” she teases.

He rolls his eyes. “Some kid did it when I was eight. We were fighting about my Dad and I got a face full of sidewalk. Looking back, the kid was totally right, my dad was a deadbeat, but I didn't want to hear it at the time.” He pauses and feels the memory of that moment, with the pain and the blood and the embarrassment, bristle through him. “Kids are mean.”

Annie’s face softens as she grazes the scruff of his jaw. “I know. When I was fourteen, I was shoved in a gym locker at school for two hours for no reason. I could hardly breathe in there. I think that’s why I don't like small enclosed spaces.”

“You’re claustrophobic?” he asks.

“No. I just like being able to breathe.”

“As do most people.”

“And trees.”

He chuckles softly. “And trees.”

She meets his smile and kisses the beat of his heart before resting her cheek there and snuggling against him. A clock tick tocks on the shelf in the corner and Annie absentmindedly fingers the sleeve of his t-shirt where it rests against his bicep, while Jeff lets his fingers get lost in the tangle of her hair, soft and scented. As he soothes her scalp she presses further into his chest with a contented hum and it hits him how lucky he is that she’s here, like this, after everything.

“I’m sorry, you know,” he says, his voice seeming so loud in the quiet.

Annie lifts her head, face puzzled. “What for?”

“For, you know, doing what I did that made you punch me in the face that time.”

“The nose.”

“Tomato, tomah-to.”

“You’ve got to admit, I’ve got a mean right hook,” she says, and waves her fist around like she's aiming another punch.

“My nose agrees. It hurt for weeks.” He pauses, catching her fist and squeezing her against him tightly. “Do you accept my apology?”

“I guess.”

He feels a fit of panic at the half-hearted way she says it and his words come out in a tumbled rush. “I’m being sincere here, Annie and I never meant to hurt -”

“I know.” Her pause feels like a lifetime. “I suppose you could make it up to me.”

“O-kay. What did you have in mind?”

“Take me to bed or lose me forever!”

What the…

Jeff’s mouth opens and closes soundlessly a couple of times and he blinks in surprise before he laughs, the vibrations bouncing Annie on his chest. When she joins in, smile wide and glorious, he cradles her face in his palms, bringing her close to his mouth as he says, “You’ve been watching too many movies with Abed.”

“Uh, Jeff. We just watched _Top Gun_ together last night. Don’t you remember?”

“No recollection whatsoever,” he says, even though he remembers everything; the heat of her kisses, the feel of her ass in his hands, the way she moved against him _just so._..

Annie doesn't seem to realize that he's teasing her and her jaw drops wide as she shifts to straddle his hips, blowing the hair out of her face in a fluster. “But you’re the one who wanted to watch it. You vetoed _Just like Heaven_ on account of it being a chick movie and then I said don’t call me chick and that you had no reason to be jealous of Mark Ruffalo because I knew that was the real reason why you didn't want to watch it and then you said…” She tilts her head, brow wrinkled. “Wait, what was I talking about again?”

He smiles, completely entranced by her. “Top Gun.”

“Right! Yes, you said it was the perfect 'guy' movie with a side of romance so that’s why we watched it.”

“Well, the thing is, there was this really hot chi-” He laughs at her sullen pout. “Sorry, hot _woman_ sitting in my lap and nibbling my ear, so I wasn’t really concentrating on the screen.”

“Oh, I see.” Her palms slide up his chest. “So the ear nibbling distracts you?”

He remembers how it felt to have her hot breath and wet tongue against the shell of his ear, and clears his throat. “Uh, why does it sound like you’re writing a list?” he asks.

“Uh, because I am. Lists are important, Jeff. I've told you this.”

“Are you planning on distracting me from something?”

“Not right now but I might need to in future and it helps to know that I can do my bit. I'm a team player, Jeff.” Her hair tickles his cheeks as she kisses him but tears away abruptly with an 'Uh-uh-uh" the moment he tries to deepen it.

Annie giggles at the look of disappointment he doesn’t bother to hide. She pushes against his stomach, knocking the wind out of him with a grunt as she clambers to stand, barefoot and beautiful. He watches keenly, breathless, as she lifts the hem of her camisole and peels it away.

It hits the lamp.

“What are you doing?” He’s proud of the way his voice sounds steady, even though all blood and logical thought is heading south and…take off the bra, please take off the bra.

“I asked you to take me to bed but seeing as you’re not making any attempt to do so, I thought I’d take myself,” Annie says.

The adrenaline hits him fast as Annie pops the button on her jeans. Her hands linger, baiting his gaze to trail upwards. She holds it when he does, eyes dark and dilated, glistening with intent, her lips quirked because she knows what she's doing to him. She unfastens the zip of her jeans as she walks to his bedroom, and his pulse quickens at the slow reveal of pink panties, that little indent at the base of her spine that he loves to taste sometimes, and her luscious ass.

Jeff jumps to his feet quickly then, removing his t-shirt as he follows almost in a daze. Part of him is annoyed about this – being so overwhelmed by one tiny woman – but then her bra hits him in the face and she’s naked in his bed, all creamy curves and teasing eyes, holding up the sheets waiting for him and who is he kidding?

He fucking loves it.

 

~x~

 

When Jeff arrives at the study room one Thursday morning, Troy and Pierce laugh as he gets tangled in the unexpected strings of red paper hearts hanging in the doorway. He's completely confused by the decorations for a moment until he remembers the Dean was also dressed like Cupid and tried to shoot him with an arrow.

Shit. Valentine’s Day.

Once he finally tugs himself free, ripping a few hearts in the process and leaving a papery trail to his chair, Jeff slams his books on the table.

“Thanks for the help guys.” He pauses, noticing the silence, and lets his eyes circle the room. “Where’s everyone else? I thought I was late.”

"Female stuff," Pierce waves his hand flippantly. “We all know about the sync up,” he finishes, and Troy and Jeff groan disgustedly.

Abed, meanwhile, simply continues unpacking a box labelled ‘drama department,' pausing to blink at a pirate hat he finds before putting it back.

“The girls are changing into their costumes,” Troy says, still glaring disgusted at Pierce.

“Costumes?”

“We’re filming recreations of romantic movie scenes, for tonight’s Valentine’s dance," Abed says, now wearing a pink feather boa around his neck. "They're going to be projected onto the wall.” He tilts his head then, eyes narrowed slightly when he takes in Jeff's blank expression. “We discussed this at lunch three days ago, Jeff. It was 12.31pm, you were wearing a blue shirt.”

Jeff remembers the lunch, mainly because of his struggle to look calm and unaffected – near impossible when Annie was busy playing footsie under the table…with his crotch. He drifts off into the memory for a minute, grinning just a little before he shakes his head of it.

“Yeah, I’d like to help Abed but it interferes with my plan of doing as little as possible today," he says. "Sorry about that.”

“Sorry about what?” Britta asks as she shuffles to her seat.

She's wearing a teal colored strapless prom dress and matching silk gloves that stretch to her armpit. Her hair has been teased and backcombed and probably set with a ton of hairspray, and Jeff takes one look, eyes the ceiling and laughs hard.

“Hey Britta," he says, still laughing. "The 80s called. It wants its dress back.”

“Bite me, pointy face!”

The response dies on his lips as Shirley and Annie choose that moment to enter, both chatting mindlessly. Annie’s wearing the pale pink dress from last summer, looking even better than he remembers – probably because now he knows what’s underneath and awesome doesn’t even begin to describe it.

As Annie drops to her seat, their eyes meet, full of secrets and warmth and something else. Jeff tries not to look like he had his head between her thighs last night but as soon as she flushes, gaze table-bound, he knows he’s failed.

Oh well.

"Abed," Shirley starts carefully, fussing with her cream shawl. “Can you finally tell me why am I dressed like this?”

“You and Pierce will be recreating the _Titanic_ scene on the yacht in the parking lot.”

“We’ll be _what_ now?” Shirley glares across the table.

Pierce wiggles his eyebrows, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “Our hearts will go on, Shirley. Our hearts will go on.”

"That's good, Pierce," Abed says. "I'm impressed you even know that reference."

Jeff nods at Britta. “What about you prom queen?”

“Britta and Troy will be doing the New Year’s Eve scene from _When Harry Met Sally_.”

“Yeah.” Britta glares at Jeff as she tugs at one of her gloves. “Duh-doy!”

“And Annie and I will recreate our _Dirty Dancing_ effort from last summer. We should be able to do the full lift this time and not get tangled in the string of lights.”

“I’m so excited!” Annie claps a couple of times, though her smile fades slowly. “And looking forward to not, you know, nearly choking this time.”

Jeff chuckles in remembrance, even though he nearly had a heart attack at the time.

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool.” Abed shoots a couple of finger guns. “We’ll also have to do the end scene from _An Officer and a Gentleman_. I got the uniform in Jeff’s size but I’ll make it work. Directors have to deal with difficult actors all the time. It's good practice for me.”

“Wait.” Annie frowns, holding up her hand to halt the conversation and it's pretty impressive because Jeff thought he was the only one capable of doing that. 

“You’re not doing it, Jeff?”

“Me? Dress up? Yeah right!”

He tries not to wince at the sight of her lips pinching tight.

“You once dressed up for Halloween in that stupid leather jacket!” she says.

“If by stupid you mean hot, then...”

Britta shakes her head as she mumbles, “Textbook narcissist.”

“Whatever. I’m not dressing up. I have things to do. I'm busy. Twitter requires my valuable time right now.”

Shirley frowns sadly. “Jeffrey!”

“Not cool dude,” Troy mutters, slowly shaking his head.

“It’s our last Valentine’s dance, Jeff. Would it kill you to pitch in?”

“It might, Annie. It’s Greendale.”

 

~x~

 

It's not long before the group head off to shoot the first location, classes seemingly forgotten.

Jeff waits for the room to empty before curling his fingers around Annie’s wrist to hold her back. She’s been actively ignoring his gaze and his texts for the last twenty minutes and it was driving him crazy. She struggles against him for a moment, trying to pull away, but he holds tight and steady.

“Hey, hey, look at me," he says, and holds her chin in a pinch. “You’re not seriously holding this against me? You know I don’t like to dress up.”

“I know that,” she sighs, her gaze darting everywhere but his face. “I just…I was kind of looking forward to seeing you in uniform.”

Jeff smiles wickedly, eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”

Flushed pink, Annie nods meekly. “I don’t like to contribute to your ego fund but I am your girlfriend and…” She glances around before teasing a button on his shirt. “I think you’d look really sexy.”

His blood fires at her lust-filled whisper; a chorus he’s certain she can hear too. “Well, that much is obvious.”

She rolls her eyes, but meets his naughty smile. “And…”

“And…?”

“And I also maybe wanted you to carry me like Richard Gere.” She scrunches her face, embarrassed now. “I know, I know. It’s silly. Don't look at me.”

Jeff treads closer, and Annie hooks her fingers into his belt loops to keep him there. His stomach tenses at the proximity.

“I carried you up the stairs when you were injured,” he says.

“It’s not the same. It wasn’t romantic. I hadn’t slept all night and looked like I’d been in a fight with…” She frowns for a second. “Who’s the boxer who bites people’s ears off?”

Jeff grins as his fingers find the faint scar on her hairline. “Mike Tyson.”

“Yeah. Him. And you looked awful too.”

“Impossible. I’ll let that comment slide on account of the fact you had a head injury. Your vision was probably compromised.”

“I hate to break it to you but that night proved you kind of need your beauty sleep.”

“Annie. You know full well I’m perfect enough as it is. Right?”

She rolls her eyes, stretching on tiptoe to kiss him, pressure soft and sweet but all too brief. “Oh, I’m sure that $100 face cream in your safe helps.” She kisses him once more, quickly, but her eyes drift to the clock on the wall and she pulls away just as he's about to get a little handsy. “Look, I’ve got to go. Abed needs me.”

“What if I need you?”

Her chin lifts boldly. “Maybe you should tweet about it.”

“I knew it!” Jeff catches her hips firmly. “You’re disappointed in me.”

Annie sighs. “Maybe a little but I understand you don’t like dressing up and I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. Okay?”

Jeff nods slowly as she slips away, skirt spinning just as alluringly as it had all those months ago. Disappointing her before they started dating was like choking the Little Mermaid with a bike chain.

Now it’s like a full on Disney massacre.

 

~x~

 

Two hours and one Twitter dispute later, Jeff finds Abed in the men’s room staring vacantly at his reflection. The white naval jacket is too large on his shoulders and skims his fingertips, and he’s rolled up the trousers haphazardly and… Jeff closes his eyes with a heavy sigh. 

He was a lawyer dammit, a lawyer!

And now…

“Abed. Give me the uniform.”

Abed turns and tilts his head. “Why?”

“Don’t you want my help?”

“I’m intrigued by your motivations. Is this because I’ll be kissing Annie?”

“No one mentioned anything about kissing!” His heart drops in a rush of panic and…he probably shouldn’t have said that.

Abed hums in response, unblinking in his focus, and Jeff wonders how someone can say so much without saying anything at all.

“Listen, I just can’t bear this uniform to look as bad as it does on you. I mean really, Abed?” Jeff points at Abed’s scruffy trainers and Inspector Spacetime socks in a gesture of _what the fuck._

“Hmm. You have a point.” He unbuttons the jacket and slides it off, handing it to Jeff as if it’s a treasured prize. “Do me proud, Jeff.”

Ten minutes later, Jeff fastens the last gold button as Abed settles the hat on his head. He catches sight of himself in the mirror and turns this way and that, checking his reflection. He feels like an idiot and he’s slightly – okay, more than slightly – annoyed that his hairstyle will be ruined under this cap but _hot damn_ he looks amazing.

Seriously, is there nothing he can’t pull off?

“Okay," he says. "So, what now?”

Abed’s eyes widen obsessively, a trace of excitement blanching his features, the way it always does when he gets to talk about movies and filming and everything in between. “Now we shoot the scene. I want you to walk in, lift Annie and walk back out. Think passion, romance. Can you do that?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can manage.”

Abed studies his face impassively. “I’m pleased you’re doing this, Jeff. Even though it’s not for me, I can deal with that. Whatever gets the job done.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Abed.”

“And they say I’m delusional,” Abed mutters under his breath.

They head to the technology workshop then and Jeff waits outside while Abed sets up his camera with Pavel. He takes a peek inside, just once, and notices Annie surrounded by female extras, waiting restlessly and now dressed in jeans and a checked shirt, her hair stuffed under a flat-cap.

Jeff feels skittish and doesn’t know what to do with his arms. He can feel his heart pulsating in his fingertips and he just wants this whole thing over with already.

Abed's head appears around the door. “We’re ready for you, Jeff. Remember. Lift, passion, romance.” His voice then drops to whisper, “Action.”

Jeff inhales and exhales heavily and strides through the classroom, focus intent on the wide eyed brunette standing motionless and open mouthed in the middle of the tech workshop. His lips twitch upwards as she swallows and he practically burns under the intensity of her gaze as it trails his body enticingly.

She might as well be salivating.

This was so worth it.

The extras start to clap and Jeff isn’t sure if they’re supposed to do that but he doesn’t care, not with the way Annie is looking at him. She squeaks delightedly when he lifts her into his arms effortlessly, all muscles and machismo in his determination. Her flat-cap falls and her hair tumbles around her shoulders in a static crackle and whisper of strawberry shampoo. The animalistic growl bubbles up from deep within his chest as he leans in close, mouths a breath apart.

“What are you doing?” Annie asks, her voice is low, throaty…aroused.

“I’m trying to kiss you," Jeff says quietly. "It’s allowed. I guess you forgot to mention that.”

Her eyes widen then. “I wasn’t going to kiss…Wait, are you jealous of Abed?”

He kisses her hard in response, lips possessive, punishing, because she’s _his_ and she didn’t tell him she’d have to kiss Abed and no, never gonna happen. Annie sinks into him and the kiss deepens and doesn’t stop, even though they’re out in the hallway and Abed distantly shouts “Cut!”

Abed insists on five more takes to get it right and each time Annie looks at Jeff with increasing hunger and want, her fingers clutching his shoulders with a fevered kind of desperation, mewls and moans and breathy whimpers that only he can hear.

Jeff has to wonder why he didn’t want to do this in the first place and where the hell can he buy this uniform?

 

~x~

 

That night in the cafeteria, the disco ball sparkles from the ceiling and the walls are speckled with red hearts and twinkling lights. Jeff has to admit, it doesn’t look too bad. For Greendale.

The music is so loud he can feel it through his shoes. Abed’s re-enactments play silently on loop on a giant screen, and Jeff is surprised by how many of their graduating class helped out. Even Leonard pitched in, though he wasn't aware that _Grumpy Old Men_ was a romance.

Jeff stands beside the refreshment table, watching his friends laugh and dance in the middle of the dance floor - even Pierce is nodding along to the music, out of time with the beat. The smile hits him slowly along with the realization that this really is their last Valentine’s dance and yeah okay, maybe that means something.

At that moment, Annie wanders through the crowd and immediately her eyes meet his with a flash of something that makes his blood fire. Wearing that naval uniform was the best decision he ever made because he is so getting laid tonight.

She moves towards him slowly, teasingly, as if it’s some kind of show, and he watches eagerly. He trails the length of her greedily and swallows a growl at the sight of her red heels, high and pointed. Jeff needs to see her walk around his bedroom with nothing but them on. Now. He’s thinking of their exit plan when Annie comes to a halt, eyes twinkling, lips playing with a glossy smirk and _holy crap_ he wants her so damn much it’s ridiculous.

“Hot date tonight?” he asks.

She shrugs one shoulder. “I have plans.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Hmm. I’m taking my date to see the new Die Hard movie.”

“Because nothing says romance more than Bruce Willis shooting bad guys.”

“Maybe it does. You can hold my hand and it’s…dark in the theatre.”

“Were you planning on doing dirty things to me in the movie theatre, Annie?” he asks, smiling at her teasingly.

She flushes the reddest Jeff has ever seen. Oh shit, she totally was.

“Maybe,” she says softly, and her smile is a little wicked around the edges.

“You liked the uniform didn’t you?" Jeff asks gleefully. "Wait, let me rephrase that. You liked _me_ in the uniform.”

“Yes. You know I did.” She chews her lower lip and holds his gaze so long he starts to feel a little breathless. “But that’s it!" she says. "No more inflating your ego. We won’t get you out of the door and the movie starts at 9pm.”

He treads closer. “We don’t have to see Die Hard tonight. It’s Valentine’s Day. Don’t you want to do something, I don’t know, romantic? I was going to take you to dinner. That dress deserves a fancy restaurant, not nachos at the multiplex.”

Annie flushes demurely as her hands skim the bodice of her black dress embroidered with tiny red flowers. She glances over her shoulder, fleetingly, to where the group are dancing before toying with the cuff of his jacket.

“I wore this dress for you, regardless of where we go.” Jeff stands taller at that. “And I don’t need you to do that, Jeff. What you did earlier was the most romantic thing anyone has done for me.”

“What, carried you in front of Abed and twenty women from our graduating class?”

“It wasn’t so much that, although I enjoyed it, probably too much if Britta had any say in the matter,” she says, and they both chuckle. “It was the fact that you put aside your own embarrassment and did it, for me. I didn’t expect that.”

He shrugs, hands planted in his pockets, scuffing his shoes against the floor. “Yeah, well, I’m your boyfriend. That’s what we do isn’t it?”

“Jeff! You just said boyfriend. This is…this is a Kodak moment!”

He chuckles, more embarrassed than anything, just as Leonard ambles past, chewing on a straw.

“Whipped.”

“Shut up, Leonard! I heard about your adult diapers!”

 

~x~

 

A week later, Jeff sits in the Arrivals lounge at Denver International Airport.

It’s Saturday – one of the busiest travel days – and it’s twenty minutes of nameless faces before he spies Annie, carrying a weekend bag on one shoulder and wearing his paintball hoodie which she's rolled up at the sleeves.

The sight of her in his clothes still does things to him he can’t explain.

Annie trails the terminal with narrowed eyes, and her expression brightens the instant she sees him, waving excitedly, and Jeff feels a frisson of anticipation for all the hours they have at their disposal.

He wanders over, smile reflecting hers, and just like every movie cliché Abed ever warned him about, Annie jumps at him with a squeak, linking both hands behind his neck to anchor herself tightly. He should care about this – public displays of affection always turned his stomach – but her body is thrust close, hot, sweet and scented, and his palm settles over her ass. Their lips meet hot and wet and his mind starts a chant of _mine mine mine_. Annie melts against him all too readily, her breathy moans shoot to his groin, and Jeff somehow manages to tear himself away.

Getting hard in an airport terminal is kind of gross.

As Annie slides back to her feet, Jeff trails a palm along her cheek. “Hey gorgeous.”

She flushes, probably because he's never called her that before, and smiles wide, eyes twinkling.

“Hi handsome,” she replies, and they both laugh.

“Well, now that we’ve stated all the facts…” He smirks as she rolls her eyes. “My place or lunch first?”

“Lunch, definitely lunch. Plane food sucks. I couldn't even stomach it on the flight back.”

Jeff snatches her weekend bag and Annie weaves their fingers together, cautiously at first, before she commits to it. He looks down at their linked hands, heart kicking hard. In their effort to be discreet they don’t do it often, in public, and it still surprises him how much he likes it.

“I missed you,” she says suddenly.

He meets her coy smile. “I can’t blame you. I’d miss me too. I mean, look at me.”

“Jeff!” She shakes her head dramatically. “Still majoring in Ego 101.”

“What can I say? It’s an easy class.”

He chuckles and squeezes her hand tightly, hoping the gesture tells her everything he still has trouble saying, although he’s working on it. She was gone for two days and he genuinely didn’t know what to do with himself. He was one day away from hugging his pillow. Pathetic.

As they exit the terminal, Annie shivers at the blast of cold air and tucks herself under his arm, pressing closer to his heat. It’s a brief walk to the short-term parking lot but it’s not until they reach his car that she turns to him inquiringly.

“Don’t you want to know how it went?” she asks.

“Come on," he tells her. "It’s cold.”

Jeff shoves her bag on the backseat and holds opens the passenger door. Annie frowns but settles in the seat, watching him climb inside and fiddle with the heat settings. For the first time in a month the silence is awkward and this is not how Jeff anticipated this day going.

He doesn’t even have to look at her. He’s memorized the pinch of her frown, the pout of her glossed lips. He knows what’s coming and the thought makes him gun the engine hard.

The snap of the seatbelt never sounded so loud.

“O-kay, well, if you're not going to ask, I'm just gonna tell you," Annie says. "The interview was a lot harder than the others but I didn’t expect anything less, I mean, it’s Stanford.”

Jeff slowly reverses out of the car space. “Uh-huh.”

“And the campus was beautiful.” There’s a brief pause filled with radio noise and the distant screech of tires on the asphalt. “And I met this really hot guy who asked me out and I said yes.”

“What?”

The car lurches to a halt.

“Oh, so you are listening?”

Jeff exhales heavily, closing his eyes for just a second. “Annie, don’t joke about things like that, not when I’m driving the Lexus. Seriously.”

“Seriously? I’m trying to be serious, Jeff, and tell you about my interview but you don’t seem to care.”

He sighs. “I do care.”

Maybe a little too much.

"You could've fooled me," Annie snaps, folding her arms across her bust.

As he runs his fingers across his forehead - he can feel a stress headache already spiking across his brow - they’re startled by a beeping horn and Jeff checks his rear-view mirror, huffing at the two cars already lining up behind him.

“Look, can we talk about this once I’m out of this goddamn parking lot?” He shifts into gear and drives forward but whacks the steering wheel a minute later when he takes a wrong turn and ends up passing the space he just vacated. 

“Oh for the…it’s like they don’t want you to leave!" he snaps. "Short term my ass!”

“Jeff.”

“We might have to send out an SOS soon. What the hell!”

“ _Jeff_.”

He breaks sharply then. “And what is this tool doing? Don’t back out of the space when I’m trying to drive past you douchebag!” he shouts, and beeps the horn, twice. “Watch the Lexus!”

“JEFF!”

Jeff glances over to a pair of unimpressed blues. “What?”

“Take a right and exit first left.”

“Oh,” he says quietly.

“Yes. Oh.”

Annie folds her arms across her chest again and glares out of the window as Jeff finally exits the parking lot and makes his way through the airport. The silence between them is unnerving until they’re on the freeway nearly ten minutes later.

“Do you want to tell me why you’re behaving like this?" Annie asks eventually. "And don’t tell me it’s road rage. You’ve not acted like that before.”

“Do we have to talk about this now?" Jeff asks, pleads actually. "Can’t we just go have lunch and then spend the day together? I’d really like to get you naked at some point.”

His heart sinks when she doesn’t laugh and he know then that she’s not going to let this one go.

“No," Annie says firmly. "We talk about this first. If not, just take me home.”

Jeff clenches his jaw against the myriad of emotions at her resolute tone; proud, annoyed and kind of turned on. He doesn't know which one to let win him over.

“Oh, so you’re guilt-tripping me into talking now?”

“No. I’m just letting you know that we have to talk things through now that we’re in a relationship, Jeff. I don’t want to sit around wondering what’s bothering you when we can just discuss it and move on. It's such a waste of time.”

“Annie, I don’t want to talk about this because…ugh…” He sighs and switches off the radio, plunging the car into silence and Annie just watches him expectantly. “I just don’t want to hear about you going to Stanford,” he says finally.

“Yeah, I kind of got that. But why not?”

“Oh, come on. You’re not stupid. I’m going to miss you. There. Happy now?”

Annie caresses his thigh softly, padding her fingers against the muscles tensing there. “Jeff, I don’t even know if I’ll get an offer to-”

“Of course you will,” Jeff scoffs bitterly. "I don't expect anything else."

“I don’t know for sure and I haven’t decided if that’s even where I want to go. Then there’s the question of financial aid. There’s so much to consider before anything happens. It’s months away.”

“Yeah, so that’s why I don’t want to hear about it now. Okay?”

“Jeff…”

“What, Annie? I don’t deal with things unless I have to. I compartmentalize. You know this about me. This is nothing new.”

She sighs wearily. “I know but just because you don’t want to deal with them, doesn’t mean they no longer exist.”

“Wrong. They exist when I want them to. That’s the great thing about compartmentalizing.”

Annie makes a throaty noise of frustration. “Oh, you’re insufferable sometimes!” she says, slapping her hands against her thighs.

Jeff tightens his grip on the steering wheel. “Why, because I don’t want you to go to Stanford which is two fucking states away? Because I actually want you around?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “I don’t get women sometimes. I really don’t.”

He always thought he was a connoisseur of women.

He was wrong.

“Jeff…” Her voice is soft and threaded with regret. “I -”

“How would you feel if I went out of state to a new law firm?” He glances at her fleetingly to see her staring at her lap and the twist of her fingers there. “I mean, it’s a possibility so how would you feel? Huh?”

“I wouldn’t want you to go,” she admits quietly.

“Exactly. Because you’re just as selfish as I am.”

“Don’t you think this is hard on me too? It’s difficult enough making decisions that affect my own life but now I’ve got another person to think about. I didn’t expect this.”

“Well, neither did I. But here we are, Annie,” Jeff says with a huff. “And now the day is ruined. Great, just great.”

“It’s only ruined if we let it.” She touches the scruff of his jaw with gentle fingers. “We can still get it back on track.”

“No. I think it’s best if I just take you home.”

She snatches her hand away. “What, so you can get drunk by yourself to drown out your feelings? No way, mister. Not happening.”

“Annie, I’m driving and I can take you anywhere I want, including your apartment building.”

“True. But that doesn’t mean I’ll get out. I’ll stay in here all day if I have to.”

“Psssh. You weigh nothing. I’ll lift you out, leave you on the sidewalk and drive away.”

“You wouldn’t do that so don’t even bother pretending.” She snaps her spine upright, pressing her head high against the headrest. “We’re going to lunch and we’re going to enjoy ourselves and then we’re going back to yours to have lots of angry sex!”

“Annie!” Jeff very nearly loses control of the wheel.

“Or we can skip lunch and just have the angry sex. Your call.”

In the silence he swallows hard, his pulse erratic as he considers something that doesn't even need considering, though Annie doesn't need to know that. “Well, I’m still mad about this,” he says.

“Me too!”

“Well, there’s only one option then!”

“I couldn’t agree more!”

Jeff glances at Annie’s heaving chest and floors the accelerator.

 

~x~

 

Later, Jeff sits on his couch with Annie astride him, her head resting on his shoulder. They’re both naked, breath heavy, boneless and beat, and Jeff can barely find the energy to stroke Annie’s thighs, but he does because he just can't stop touching her. It's like a compulsion at this point.

Her breath tickles his neck as it evens out, breasts rising against his chest, her skin cooling rapidly and she shivers. Jeff kisses the naked curve of her shoulder once, twice, and grips her backside as he shifts to stand. It takes a bit of effort and he can feel a slight twinge in his lower back as he finally gets upright, but he manages it.

Annie tightens her thighs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders as he carries her into the bedroom, giggling as he throws her on the mattress.

Once they’re both settled under the covers, Annie captures his lips with a gentle lingering kiss full of the sweetness that was missing earlier when all that mattered was hunger and frantic need.

Jeff reluctantly pulls away. “Go on, say it. I know you want to.”

She grins wide. “I told you so.”

He chuckles. “Yes. You were right. The day wasn’t ruined.”

“See?” She giggles and rubs his nose softly with her own.

No one has ever done that to him before. He’s used to the butterflies now. They just won’t leave.

Fuck, he’ll be writing sonnets next.

“So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?” he asks, as he traces the arch of her neck softly, fingering the vein that flutters faster at his touch.

“I want to stay here, like this, with you.” She sighs contentedly and snuggles into his side. “I’ve got to go home tonight so let’s make the most of it.”

“Can’t you just stay here?”

“I want to but the guys are expecting me home.”

Jeff frowns. “I thought Sundays were your day spent together. It’s Saturday, Annie. Sat-ur-day,” he says, and bops the tip of her nose.

“But how do I explain where I’ve been if they know my flight landed today? I’ve only just got away with it by saying I’m not arriving until tonight. Abed insisted on knowing the flight number so I had to google late flights and everything. I feel like I should be working in espionage.”

Jeff laughs, pulling Annie’s body flush against him. “I think Abed already knows about us.”

Annie startles a little at that. “Really?” she asks.

“Uh, yeah. Something he said on Valentine’s Day. And remember what he said in the car all those months ago? He thought we were dating when we weren’t. Now that we are…”

Annie idly traces circles on his chest. “You don’t think we were…kind of…dating back then?”

“What?”

“Well, we spent all that time together…”

“But you were dating other people.”

"Uh, I had one date with Blake and even that ended with me eating pizza and watching Family Guy…with you. I even… I bought that purple dress with you in mind.” She presses her face into his chest, embarrassed.

Jeff can’t stop the grin crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I know, at least, I hoped you did.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asks, mouth aghast. 

“Annie, come on. You were the one who wanted to forget our kiss.”

“That was before our kiss, Jeff, and if you must know I didn’t want to forget about it.” She rolls onto her back, staring at the ceiling, and tries to tug the sheet over her breasts. “I was pre-empting you telling me it was a mistake.”

Jeff presses up on one elbow to gaze down at her. “I didn’t think it was a mistake.”

Annie stares at him intently for a long moment. “Do you realize how much time we’ve wasted? If only we just said how we really felt.”

He strokes her cheek, brushing his thumb against her lower lip. “That’d be too easy though, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose.”

She palms the back of his neck and Jeff moans when her nails scrape against his scalp. Annie hooks her thigh around his waist and lets her foot trail up and down the length of his leg in soft soothing strokes as their lips meet gently.

Minutes pass in a haze of languid kisses and soft searching hands, and contented hums.

Jeff begrudgingly pulls away and clears his throat. “Tell me, now that we’re talking about this, did you dress like a nurse to torment me that time or did you genuinely not realize the effect you’d have?”

She bites her lip and eyes the ceiling. “I’m like Victoria. I’m allowed my secrets.”

"I knew it," Jeff chuckles and showers her face with his appreciation, kissing her cheek, jaw, temple, the corner of her mouth.

When he finally looks at her again, her eyes are closed, almost dreamy and blissful and his heart kicks wild. He reaches for her hand and kisses it before placing it against to his forehead.

“Do you feel that?” he says.

Her eyes snap open, alert suddenly. “What?”

“I have a temperature, Annie. Maybe we should play Doctors and Nurses for real this time.”

Annie giggles. “I don’t have the outfit on me, Jeff.”

He pulls her thigh back around his waist, sliding his palm in a slow tease from knee to hip, relishing and greedy.

“Never mind. You wouldn’t have been wearing it long anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** 'Take me to bed or lose me forever' was taken from the movie 'Top Gun.' Also Annie and Jeff are dressed like characters from 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' I think we'd all agree Joel McHale would rock that outfit. Yep. Cliché town. I regret nothing. :)


	10. March 2013

**_March 2013_ **

One Sunday Jeff wakes to the smell of coffee and an empty bed he doesn't like.

As he wanders out to the living area rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning loudly, he hears the faint chords of music through his iPod speakers. Dressed in nothing but his dress-shirt, Annie stands barefoot at the kitchen sink, humming, mouthing silently to the words, head bopping and hips swaying to the beat.

For a moment Jeff is entranced by her - hair a little mussed, elbow deep in soap suds and completely lost in her own world. On the counter he notices the coffee press and two cups on a wooden tray he didn't know he had, and the domesticity behind it has the smile inching across his cheeks and his pulse fluttering madly.

Annie turns and smiles wide, blowing him a kiss full of soapy bubbles with a soft delighted giggle, and his stomach drops all the way to his feet as if he’s on the peak of a rollercoaster about to plummet.

He loves her.

Wait.

What?

 

~x~

 

For Abed’s birthday the group all pitch in to fund a couple of his favorite celebrity impersonators, and now Casa de Trobed is filled with ‘celebrity’ classmates to match the theme.

Jeff – as Mr Blonde from the movie _Reservoir Dogs,_  thumbs-up approved by Abed – relaxes against the kitchen bar, picking at the label on his beer bottle as he surveys his dancing friends.

He’s not really into dancing although he should probably work on that, especially since his girlfriend is currently looking super-hot dressed like Lara Croft and every delicious part of her is jiggling too close to Abed.

So much has happened since the last time he stood here, like this, watching the two of them dance like no one was watching. Realistically he knows he has no reason to feel jealous now because it’s _his_ bed Annie sleeps in, _his_ hand she holds at the movies, _his_ name on her lips when she comes. But he can’t help the reflex tightening of his grip when Abed palms Annie’s hip. And even though the connection was brief – fleeting even – Jeff kind of wants to punch Abed in the face, which wouldn’t be right on his birthday and is probably illogical, if he thinks about it.

But the thing is...

He’s in love with Annie Edison.

And for some ridiculous reason he now wants to brand his name on her ass and make sure everyone knows that she’s his and no one else gets to touch her - difficult when no one even knows they’re dating.

And yeah, okay, he’s probably being irrational about this but he still hasn’t told her how he feels and it’s been a week. Seven whole days of this itchy new awareness has driven him to the brink of insanity and sometimes over the very edge of it, and everyone has noticed. Even Pierce wondered if they should hide all the fire axes on campus and he didn't even have his usual snarky reply because he had been wondering the same thing.

But it’s just… now that the knowledge has escaped the deep recesses of his brain, Jeff can’t think of anything else. He's consumed by it.

His mind is filled with unanswered questions like, how does he tell her? Should it involve flowers or a hallmark card? Annie likes both of those things. Should he just say it, quickly and to the point, like he does when he’s ordering lunch? The fact that he has no idea is endlessly irritating because he’s _Jeff Winger_. He knows everything. But right now he’s nauseous and nervous and can’t stop the incessant tremor of his leg and no Troy, this is not his idea of dancing.

Across the room, Annie spins and throws a cheeky wink his way and Jeff’s heart nearly crashes through his ribcage and goddamn it, it’s going to be a long night.

 

~x~

 

A few hours later, Jeff stretches across Annie’s bed.

Needing space to think, he snuck into her room when everyone was busy watching Garrett attempt the dance scene from _Risky Business_ in just his shirt. The result wasn’t pretty. 

At that moment – as if she knows he’s not done thinking and is standing out on a ledge wondering if he’s ready to fall – Annie cautiously enters, locking the door behind her.

“The party was a success!” she says happily, followed by an excited little clap of her hands. “Troy took Britta home and Abed is in the Dreamatorium with the Molly Ringwald lookalike. I don’t even want to know what they’re doing in there.”

Jeff chuckles, relaxing just a little, the way he always does when Annie's around. “I think it’s pretty obvious.”

Annie's nose wrinkles for barely a second while she thinks about it before she shrugs the thought away just as quickly, meeting his smile. “You look good laid out on my bed waiting for me. I like it.”

“I look good anywhere.” He watches her move to her dressing table, catching her gaze in the mirror as she starts to unravel the long braid of her hair. “Did anyone see me come in here?” he asks, even though he's sure they would have burst in if they had.

“No, luckily everyone thought you left,” Annie says as she spins to face him, pulling the small tank top over her head and folding it neatly over the back of her chair. “Why _did_ you come in here? Oooh, oooh, were you playing up to your James Bond impression? Because you really took a risk coming in here, Jeff.”

“Annie, I’m _Mr Blonde_ not Mr Bond.”

“What’s the difference? They both wear suits.”

“What’s the… no, you know what? Irrelevant.” He picks at the thread of a pink cushion. “I came in here because I needed space to think and, you know, I can’t say I enjoyed seeing Abed’s hands all over you.”

Annie pauses in removing the holster from her thigh. “Jeff, we were dancing and he was in character -”

“Uh, I don’t remember Neo dancing in _The Matrix_.”

Her shorts pool at her feet. “Well, I don’t know! It’s Abed. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“But you’re mine and only I get to touch you.”

“Uh, possessive much?”

“Oh, you love it.”

She gasps, indignantly at first, but then her lips twist in thought. “Okay, maybe a little. It is kind of sexy.”

She giggles then, wandering towards him in her lingerie – a flimsy set in pink with silk purple bows at her hips that hold it all together, begging to be unravelled. She soon sits astride him, trailing little biting kisses down his neck as she tries to loosen his tie. She nuzzles the soft skin behind his ear, her tongue flicking wetly against his earlobe to tug it slightly and _I love her I love her I love her_ -

“No, I can’t do this,” Jeff says hurriedly.

He lifts Annie off his lap and sets her on the other side of the bed before climbing to his feet and looking around frantically, not sure where to go or what to do, whether he wants to leave or stay.

“Why?" Annie asks, slightly confused by his behavior. "The guys aren’t here. No one can hear us.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” He steals a glance at Annie, unknowingly curled up on the bed like some fifties pin-up, and he clenches his eyes closed. “I need to tell you something.”

He needs to tell her before it eats him alive…

She swallows, her face tensing. “O-kay.”

“You see, here’s the thing.” He starts to pace back and forth in the small distance between the door and her bed. “The thing is Annie…” He roughly palms the scruff of his jaw. “Do you have any scotch? No, of course you don’t. What am I saying?”

“Jeff," she says slowly. "You’re kind of freaking me out.”

“Well, I’m freaking myself out, Annie.” He fingers his shirt collar and tugs at his tie. “Is it hot in here?”

Annie wraps one hand around his forearm to settle his nervous fidgeting. “Jeff, just tell me what’s wrong. Please. You’ve been weird all week and I don't…I'm worried.”

Jeff pauses, his hands landing on her hips as Annie kneels on the mattress and curls her fingers into his shoulders, kneading lightly. His eyes close involuntarily as he takes a deep breath, adrenaline racing, heart thundering in his ears as he gives himself over to her hands for a moment. When his eyes finally open, Annie is staring at him, eyes full of concern.

“Do you remember when you had your accident?” he asks her.

She’s thrown by the question. He can tell by the way she balks and blinks all rapidly. “Of course I remember.”

“But do you remember what you said to me afterwards?" he persists. "You wanted someone who didn’t care that you’d been to rehab or -”

“Don’t remind me.” She flushes, shaking her head lightly and pressing her face into the palm of her hand. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“No, don’t be embarrassed. I like that you told me that." He tugs her hand away from its covering and grips it, squeezing reassuringly. "You see, I thought… The thing is, Annie, well.” His chest rises and falls. “I’m that… someone.”

“What -”

“I love you,” he says, and flinches, the words a tumbled rush of awkward in his mouth.

Annie freezes, eyes wide as she studies every line of his face before she looks away.

“Jeff, you don’t have to tell me that just because you’re jealous of Abed. We were just dancing.”

She shifts to move away but Jeff snatches her face in both palms, the fierceness of the gesture startling her, and her mouth parts on a soft soundless gasp.

“No, that’s not what I meant and you know it. You don’t have to protect yourself from me anymore. I’m not going to take it back, I’m not going to say it was a mistake and I’m not going to forget. I’m in love with you, in case you hadn’t noticed. _Jesus._ ”

He watches the arch of her neck as she swallows, and her voice is a shred above a whisper as she says, “I…No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“Well, I’ve never said that to anyone before so we’re even.”

He’s thankful he’s gripping her face because he’s pretty sure his hands would be shaking right now.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I feel like a nervous teenager hiding in the body of a ridiculously handsome thirty-six year old.”

“Well, you are ridiculous.”

She giggles, and the elation she must feel in the moment has her leaping forward to claim his lips, kisses greedy and all consuming, clawing at his clothes with frantic fingers like she just can't get enough.

Jeff finally tugs on those purple bows and loses himself in her.

 

~x~

 

Much later, the apartment is quiet but Jeff lies awake staring at the ceiling, a sleepy and satisfied Annie nestled into his side.

Unable to sleep for the gnawing sensation in his gut, Jeff fidgets for a long while, kicking the sheets, twisting and turning, punching the pillow with a heavy fist. When he finally settles, it’s there, engulfed by the darkness and the hypnotic tick tock, that he realizes, that it hits him heavily and bursts forth.

Of all the scenarios he imagined, he never once thought she wouldn’t say it back.

 

~x~

 

Jeff opens one eye cautiously as a soft yellow light spills through the slatted blinds he forgot to close.

His temple pulses to a loud persistent beat and he lifts his head cautiously from the pillow. The room spins on its axis and the walls close in and he’s pretty sure they’re not supposed to do that. His stomach rolls then but he burps a breath that stinks of alcohol, the scent practically seeping through his pores.

Oh yeah, that wailing is the sound of his brain cells dying, suffocating from alcoholic fumes.

He groans to his feet, stumbles and staggers a few times, every movement slow as he pulls his jeans from the chair. Somehow he makes it out to the living room and gets one foot in one leg before falling, skin slapping the floor with a heavy thwack. He cries out on instinct, though it didn't hurt as much as it should, and at this point he’s semi-grateful for all the alcohol he’s consumed because he’d probably be in agony right about now. He blinks blearily and decides to stay there, naked, face squished painfully and one foot in his jeans, at least until the room stops spinning and his head doesn't feel so stuffy.

When his landline rings loudly a moment later, the noise is like a thousand daggers in his skull, jabbing him over and over with every ring, and Jeff moans "Shut up, shut up, shut up" until it stops, clicks and the message plays.

“Jeff, it’s me. It’s pointless ignoring your cell when I know you have a landline. I’m coming over. We need to talk.”

_Fuck._

He manages to roll onto his back and pull on his jeans with a bit of wriggling and concerted effort. There’s a determined knock on his door a few minutes later, reminding Jeff of how much alcohol affects your awareness of time, unless Annie drives really fast which doesn’t ring true for Miss-Jeff-you-missed-a-stop-sign-Edison.

He crawls over to the door and finally gets to his feet to wrench it open. In the hallway, Annie’s arms are folded sternly, and she wrinkles her nose as she eyes the length of him from top to toe.

“You’ve been drinking,” she says, her pout more pronounced than usual.

“Well done. Case solved.”

Annie marches into his kitchen, making little huffy noises when she notices the empty bottle of scotch on the side. Jeff sits on one of the stools, his head gravitating to the kitchen bar while Annie moves back and forth between the sink and the refrigerator, although she doesn't speak.

Amid the perpetual head throbbing and the sound of the coffee machine percolating, Jeff wonders if he did anything stupid while he got drunk, anything that could make her this mad.

But then there’s a break in the fog, just a sliver, and he remembers the night before when he told her the one thing he's never said to anyone, and  _he’s_ mad at _her,_ and _holy crap_ thinking really hurts _._

A few minutes later Annie places a steaming cup beside his nose. “Drink this. Now.”

Jeff gingerly lifts his head. “You came to make me coffee? There are people who get paid to do that.”

She huffs and folds her arms sharply. “I came to ask why the hell you left in the middle of the night because, _oh_ , I don’t know, when your boyfriend tells you that he loves you for the first time, you kind of expect him to still be there the next morning! I was worried. I thought something terrible had happened.”

Jeff exhales heavily and takes comfort in the coffee’s bitter warmth, though it's too strong for his usual tastes and he know that Annie knows that. But he can’t look at her right now. He let himself get entirely too deep into this without thinking she wouldn’t do the same and now he looks like a fool. He’s completely powerless and she’s done this to him. He’s let a woman do this to him.

His twenty-five year old self is probably having a real good laugh at him right now.

“Annie," he sighs. "I don’t -”

“Want to talk about this? Change the record, Jeff.” She shakes her head, studying his refusal to look at her and her voice is too quiet when she asks, “Do you know how it felt to wake up and discover you had left?”

“I have some idea.”

“Are you…" she starts and then seems so swallow her words back for a moment. "Do you regret telling me how you feel?”

“No!”

The answer surprises them both.

“Then... why?” She frowns into the distance. “I thought I did something wrong.”

His jaw tightens bitterly. “You did.”

"What?" she gasps and sort of shrinks in on herself. “Was it not good for you too? I thought -”

“Annie, this has nothing to do with sex," he grits out. "I said I loved you and you never said it back. Forgive me if I’m a little fucking upset about that.”

Just dig yourself deeper, Jeff. Dig yourself deeper…

“I…I didn’t?” Annie's mouth opens soundlessly and her face twists into a mixture of shock and confusion as she replays the last twelve hours in her head. “Jeff, I… _That’s_ why you left?” she asks, and she actually sounds a little mad.

He can't believe that she doesn't get it. “You think I’m going to stick around like an idiot after I just put myself out there like that?”

Her expression softens as she studies his face, holding his gaze so intently he flinches and looks away, and it's only then that she huffs.

“Well, you must be an idiot if you don’t know by now how much I love you. And if you’d stuck around, I would have told you as much this morning!”

The silence between them is sudden and sharp and Jeff exhales heavily, all the tension and breath leaving his body in a gush as Annie looks at him with eyes fiercely blue and determined.

“You’re not just saying that?” he asks quietly, and he's never felt more vulnerable in his life.

"No, of course not!" Her shoulders slump as she moves towards him, probably relieved that they were finally getting somewhere. “I guess I was so happy that _you_ said it, I got carried away by the moment with the kissing and the -”

“Sex?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, which was -”

“Amazing. Seriously, Annie, it’s always -”

“I know!” She flushes red, eyes wide.

Jeff feels a little bubble of joy spring up in his chest that flows outwards because he sees it now, right there in her eyes, dusting every feature softly. She loves him. He – Jeff Winger – is loved. He swallows the lump in his throat because how is that even possible?

“Come here,” Annie says, sliding her fingertips along the scruff of his jawline. “I’m about to get sentimental and stuff. Are you ready?”

He shrugs carelessly but can’t hide the half-smile twitching his lips. “I guess…”

“Look at me." And he does. "I love you because you see _me_ , you really see me. And I see you and I love everything I see, even those parts that aren’t perfect because -”

“Annie, c'mon. I’m perfection in male form.”

She ignores him, palming his head so tightly the smile slips from his face. “ _Because_ I’m not perfect either but you make me feel like I am. I love you so much.”

Jeff’s heart does something weird in his chest as they study each other in silence, their breaths uneven and heavy.

“And now we’re even,” Annie finishes.

She yanks him down to her mouth after that, kissing him hungrily, her tongue seeking, searching, dancing with his own. He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, all eager hands and searching mouths meeting with lazy kisses that have no purpose except the need to be close.

By the time they pull away a little breathless, Jeff wonders why he’s never done this love stuff before because even with a hangover he feels amazing and has this impulsive need to flex his muscles and shout things from mountain tops.

He laughs out loud at that and Annie smiles curiously.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” He brushes her cheek and ducks to kiss her there. “I’m sorry I left like I did. I just felt -”

“I know, it’s okay. I’m sorry too. I’d just rather you told me these things and we could resolve it. I don’t want you to run away anymore Jeff, because I can’t keep chasing after you or waiting for you to come back. It…it hurts me.”

His heart lurches at the thought of hurting her in any way, and he snatches her hand, kissing it once, twice. He hugs her tiny frame as close as possible to his own, his chin resting on top of her head, eyes closed, feeling all kinds of relief.

Annie presses closer, breath tickling his chest.

“Uh, Jeff? I hate to be the one to tell you this but…You stink.”

He leans back, grinning. “Join me in the shower?”

“I’m not the one who smells.”

“True, but I need someone to wash my back… and my front. I’m hungover. What if my delayed reactions cause me to slip and hit my head? It’d be your fault. Do you want that on your conscience, Annie? Do you?”

“Technically, it’d be your fault and that empty bottle of scotch on the counter but I _suppose_ I could shower with you, if I _must_.” Her fingers dance the line between his shoulder blades as he leads her to the bathroom. “Do you need me to undress you too?”

Jeff smirks as the bathroom light flickers noisily and showers them in florescent brightness.

“Yeah. I almost injured myself getting these jeans on, I can’t bear to think what might happen to this body if I attempt to take them off.”

She meets his playful smile and his stomach muscles contract as Annie draws her palms down his chest, tickling his lower abdomen, sliding a fingertip along the cut of his hip as she heads to his zipper.

“It is _so_ tough being your girlfriend sometimes.”

 

~x~

 

It's late one Friday and the group are assembled in the study room.

The table is scattered with textbooks and coffee cups and a near-empty basket of muffins that Shirley baked especially for sustenance as they try to finish their last joint assignment.

Jeff isn’t much help, as usual, but this time he’s too busy thinking of two days with Annie inside his apartment and all the naked things they could do. Every time he looks her way, she chews on her bottom lip in an effort to restrain her smile and Jeff knows their thoughts are perfectly in sync.

He also thinks about taking her out for a fancy dinner, somewhere they can get dressed up - they haven't really done that since their first date - and then that leads on to wondering whether Annie will agree to fool around in the backseat of his car afterwards, and so really all thoughts just lead to Annie and nakedness.

It's the perfect combination.

“So…” Shirley chirps then, noticing a lull in their study and using it. “What’s everyone doing this weekend?”

“I’m having a marathon screening session of Polish movies with Pavel,” Abed says. 

“Um…” Troy seems a little unsure about the question, and scratches behind his ear. “I got a thing.”

“Yeah,” Britta agrees, nodding rapidly. “Me too.”

Shirley eyes the two of them strangely. “O-kay…What about you, Annie?”

"Oh." Annie toys with her pen, staring intently at her notebook. “No plans, just a quiet weekend on my own…alone…by myself.”

Shirley claps happily. “That means you can babysit for me tomorrow!”

“No!” Jeff shouts and then immediately regrets it when six pair of eyes fall on him at once, and he forces himself to relax in his seat, rolling his neck languidly to one side. “Annie is helping me this weekend, right?”

“Oh, yeah, right, I completely forgot. Silly me!”

“What are you helping him with?”

Jeff can think of lots of things she’s going to help him with but he doesn’t think Shirley would approve of any of them.

“Um…”

“Britta and Troy are dating.”

Shirley gasps. “What?”

Britta grips the table edge, unknowing where to look, while Troy sits up straight in his chair.

“Abed, _dude_!”

He shrugs.

Silence falls over the room and everyone seems to wait, anticipating who has the courage to break it first.

Jeff steals a glance at Annie sitting there frozen, her pen gripped so tightly in her hands that he thinks the plastic might break eventually.

“Brit-ta, is this…” Shirley gestures with her hand, clearly struggling with words. “Are you and Troy dating?”

"Yeah, well..." She shifts uncomfortably and then seems to gather herself enough to point across the table, firm and accusing and kind of smug. “So are Jeff and Annie!”

“WHAT.” Shirley slaps both hands against her cheeks and Jeff’s heart jumps into his throat at the same time Annie goes completely rigid in her seat. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus!”

“Hey!” Jeff glares at Britta. “Wait, how did _you_ know that?”

"Please," Britta scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Abed told me but just confirmed what I already knew. If you thought you were being discreet you’re, well, wrong and all that stuff.”

“Well, if you thought _you_ were being discreet you’re delusional! I saw you guys at the mall, not to mention that time you were sucking each other's faces off in the middle of the sidewalk.”

"Yeah, well, I saw you -"

“GUYS! Put a sock in it! Now’s not the time for your bickering.” Annie throws her pointed glare across the table, and she's pretty controlled when she says, “Abed, is there something you maybe want to tell us?”

“Just that I can’t believe people still question my knowledge after all these years.” Abed shakes his head. “Aside from your increasing closeness, there was all the kissing on Valentine’s Day, and there was too much tongue to be platonic. Then there's the fact that Annie sneaks out late at night and doesn’t come back, oh and last month I walked past that Spanish tapas bar on Steele Street and you two were all over each other. It was very Rated R.”

Annie flushes red and Jeff doesn’t know where to look because right now Shirley is attempting murder with her eyes and he thinks it might be working. _  
_

“Is this news?” Pierce asks, and circles the table with a furrowed brow. “You mean I actually knew something before someone else?”

Shirley scowls. “How did _you_ know about this Pierce?”

He gestures between Jeff and Annie. “They’ve been dating since last summer.”

“What?!”

“No, we haven’t,” Jeff adds.

“Really? What was with all the touching and the dates and the holding hands?”

Jeff shakes his head wordlessly for a moment. “We never did any of that, Pierce.”

“Now who’s delusional?” Britta mumbles childishly.

“I saw you. I saw you last August, or was it July? It could have been September -”

“Oh, get on with it!”

“Britta, there’s a cure for PMS. It’s called a sex-change.” Pierce rolls his eyes at her indignant gasp and sour pout. “One afternoon I was driving back from a night of pleasure with one of my lady friends.” He ignores the group groan. “And I saw you two leaving the multiplex in town holding hands.”

“Called it.”

Jeff turns to Annie as she looks up from the table. She pulls a resigned sort of face and nods, shrugging her shoulders, and okay, so maybe they had been dating a lot longer than he thought.

“When did this happen?”

“Shirley…” Jeff starts.

“No, Jeffrey, we’ll get round to you in a minute.” Shirley glowers her promise and turns to face Britta. “I want to hear about you two.” Her finger dashes between Britta and Troy accusingly.

“We’ve been hanging out for a while,” Britta says, almost shyly, as she fingers the cuff of her leather jacket.

“Yeah,” Troy nods. “You know, ‘cause I’m a guy and I do guy stuff that guys do.”

Annie giggles behind her palm, stopping abruptly under the ice of Shirley’s glare.

“But what about you and Jeff?”

"What about us?" Britta frowns, looking confusedly at Jeff for a second. “We had our thing and that ended a long time ago, Shirley. You know that. _Everyone_ knows that.”

“But you two are perfect for each other! You’re the parents of the group and you look alike with your pointy noses and you’ve already had pre-marital sex.” Shirley fusses with her cardigan for a moment. “I always thought you’d find your way back to each other.”

Troy makes a disgusted sort of noise and presses his forehead to the table and Jeff's whole body is tense and alert _._

“I’m not listening to this!” Annie’s chair hits the cupboard behind her as she stands, the noise loud and abrupt in the silence.

“Oh, Annie, I’m sorry sweetie, it’s just-”

“Just what?” Annie demands, and pauses in packing her bag.

“Well," Shirley starts tentatively. "I just think Jeff and Britta are better suited. That's not even counting the fact that he’s too old for you and you’re, you know...Sometimes you're a little naive.”

"Naive?!" Annie almost shrieks.

“Okay, hold up. First of all, look at this face.” Jeff circles his face with both hands. “This is not the face of an old man. Secondly, Annie is twenty two now. You’ve got to stop labelling her as some naive kid. I did.”

“Mmm-hmm. I bet you did.”

Jeff sighs, feeling more and more tired of the conversation by the second. “More importantly Shirley, she’s more mature than most of us here and stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. So just…stop. Don't talk about her like that.”

Annie smiles softly, that perfect adoring smile that makes him feel all kinds of powerful, like he’s just saved an old lady from a burning building or rescued a kitten from a tree and oh my god, he seriously needs to do something masculine before he loses the right to use his penis.

Shirley doesn’t quite look at him. “That’s all very nice Jeffrey but I don't think I can accept this.”

And just like that, Annie looks like the old lady died and the kitten fell from the tree.

"Why?" Jeff gets to his feet, just so she’s not standing alone. “Shirley, I’m not going to end up with Britta.” He turns to his blonde friend looking up at him. “Right?”

“Right! We’re friends. Good friends. Great friends.” She shifts higher in her seat. “You know what? I’m actually proud at how far we’ve come. Bring it in for some fivesies!”

Jeff accepts her high-five with a hearty slap.

“See, it’s that thing you two do just shows how in tune you are!”

“Shirley…” Britta starts. “Just because Jeff and I are…”

“Cynical.” Abed says monotonously, as if counting off a list. “Jaded.”

“Gay?” Pierce adds and Abed tilts his head, brow furrowed.

“Whatever Pierce!” Britta sighs. “Just because we share similarities doesn’t mean we should be together. It doesn't work like that.”

Troy finally stirs and lifts his head from the table. “You guys can see me right? I’m not invisible?”

“No. You could be a hologram though.” Abed pokes him in his arm, hard. “This upsets me.”

Shirley gathers her purse and holds it close to her chest. “Well, what about the negative effects on the group?”

Annie forcefully shoves her textbook into her backpack. “That’s your argument? The group?”

“We have finals coming up. It’s more important than ever that we stick together, remain focused. I don’t see how that’s going to happen with all these ungodly goings-on!”

“Jeff and I have been dating since January and you didn’t notice. And Troy and Britta have been messing around since December, at least. Am I right?”

“How did you…?” Britta trails off in wonder.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is there have been no negative impacts on our group dynamic. We’ve all managed to be relatively adult about this and keep our personal lives separate.”

“This is true. I’m surprised this hasn’t blown up before now.”

“Well, it wouldn’t have if you’d kept your mouth shut, Abed!” Britta folds arms in a huff.

Jeff copies her gesture sharply. “Yeah. What happened to being the director and never injecting yourself into the scene?”

Abed shrugs. “I’m a computer and sometimes computers malfunction.” He tilts his head momentarily. “Also, I was bored. We’ve had no group revelations for a while. We needed to mix things up. Annie struggling to think of a lie as to why she would be ‘helping’ you this weekend was the perfect FADE IN scene opener. I took my chance and ran with. I regret nothing.”

Annie, meanwhile, stares determinedly at Shirley but deflates when she refuses to look at her. “Shirley?”

“I’m sorry but this is a lot for me to take in at the moment.”

Annie hooks her backpack on her shoulders and fingers the straps. “I don’t really want to argue the case for our relationship. I thought it was obvious how much we care about one another and that should be enough. But you’re my friend Shirley and I’d like your support on this.”

Shirley doesn’t say anything, just tightens her grip on her purse and stares at the table with a frown.

Jeff notes the thin press of Annie’s lips as she leaves the study room and starts gathering his books.

“Annie’s upset.”

Jeff sighs heavily. “Abed, stating the obvious since 2009.”

 

~x~

 

The next morning Jeff wakes to a beam of sunlight blinding and burning where he'd forgotten to close the blinds again. Annie faces away from him on the far side of the bed, the curve of her sheet-covered hip all too tempting, the bumps of her naked spine an invitation to his fingers. As he scoots closer, he notices her shoulders shuddering lightly and that’s when he hears it.

Annie’s tears are his kryptonite.

He’s not sure how to handle this because this is real relationship territory now – comforting your girlfriend when she’s upset – and his pulse kicks into a higher gear. He’d managed to avoid it so far, with Annie acting determinedly stoic all of last night and Jeff keeping her mouth otherwise occupied. But now he can’t just get up and pretend he hasn’t heard her, so he kisses her shoulder once, tugging and rolling her over to face him. There’s some reluctance on her part but he’s too strong and soon he’s leaning on one elbow, looking down at her red rimmed eyes.

“Annie?”

She sniffles as he sweeps his thumbs across her wet cheeks. “I was just thinking about everything Shirley said yesterday and I got upset. I’m being silly, ignore me.”

“I can’t ignore you because you’re naked in my bed and on top of that I don’t like to see you upset.”

She smiles and places her palms flat against his jaw. “I’ll be okay, it’s just…”

“What?”

“I guess..." She starts playing with the slight tuffs of hair above his ear. "I guess I worry that there was some truth in what she said yesterday.”

“You doubt my feelings for you?”

The hurt must be written all over his face because her expression softens regretfully. “No, of course not. Not anymore.” She pauses, shaking her fists in a sudden gesture of frustration and growls through gritted teeth. “Why do I have to be so dependent on approval? I shouldn’t need Shirley’s support. She’s not my mother! And I don’t even know what having a mother’s support feels like so the thought is illogical.”

“Hey, look, it’s okay," Jeff says, smoothing his hand down her arm. "She’s your friend and you respect her opinion, that’s all. Shirley will come around eventually. Just give her some time.”

“We’ve already wasted so much time, Jeff, being apart when we wanted to be together, and now it’s like my worst nightmare because no one is seeing what I see.”

“And what’s that?”

Annie draws a fingertip across his lower lip. “How good we are together.”

Jeff smiles widely. “Yeah?”

“Don’t get all smug, you feel the same way.”

“Oh, do I?”

“Yep, you can’t fool me. I know all your moves.”

He chuckles lightly and ducks to kiss the corner of her mouth. “You’re right, but if Shirley can’t see that then she’s not the person I thought she was.”

Annie’s fingers scrape idly through his hair. “But what if her hatred of our relationship affects the group? We might have to break up.”

“The group? I don’t see that happening.”

“No.” She shoots her gaze to the ceiling. “Us.”

“What? No, no that’s just…no.”

Annie giggles softly and pushes him back to his pillow but Jeff thrusts a palm between them as she attempts to snuggle closer.

“Wait. You would honestly break up because of Shirley?”

“No.”

“Then why would you say that? Was that some kind of test?”

"I don't know." Her eyes dart everywhere as she scrunches her face. “ _Maybe?_ ”

“Nice, Annie. Real nice.”

He whips the sheet off his body before swinging off the bed but his feet have barely touched the floor when Annie’s arms circle his torso, and he can feel every line and soft curve of her naked body pressed into his spine as she kneels behind him on the mattress.

“I’m so sorry, Jeff. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She scatters kisses all over his upper back, followed by soft caresses of her nose and cheek, lets him feel the brush of her breasts with every breath. Her hands clutch the hard planes of his abdomen as she tries to get him to turn around.

He wants to but his pride is putting up a damn good fight today.

Annie clutches tighter, kissing his shoulder blades before resting her cheek there for a few minutes of motionless silence, the air cooling around their naked bodies. When Jeff finally turns around Annie cradles his face, her fingers teasing hair not yet perfected with product. She looks at him with wide eyes, shiny and contrite, and Jeff has to tighten his resolve into solid fists by his sides.

“Do you forgive me?” she asks.

“That depends. What else do I have to do to prove that I’m in this?”

“Nothing, you have nothing to prove.”

“Then why did -”

“I’m just scared, Jeff! Okay? Shirley assumes you and Britta will find your way back to each other and what if she’s right? What if -”

“Annie." He cradles her shoulders gently, trying to restrain the impulse to shake some sense into her. "Britta is my friend and I care about her a lot. But I’m in love with you. I kind of thought we’d covered this.”

“You think I’m ridiculous, don’t you?” she asks, dropping her head a little.

“I don’t know what else I can do. I wore a naval costume for you, Annie. Me. In a costume. In front of other human beings. I let you use my $100 face cream.”

“Well, love is sharing beauty products with your girlfriend.”

“Uh, exactly.”

Annie eases herself down onto the mattress and pats the space beside her. She’s all too alluring, naked on his sheets, and the instant she extends her leg to graze the muscle of his upper thigh with her pink polished toes, his body falls into bed before his brain can stop him. He’s tempted to draw this out, torment her just a little, but then the day would be ruined and he had too many plans for that.

So when Annie rolls onto her side and snuggles closer, Jeff doesn’t fight it. She hooks her thigh over his, kissing him hard, one hand trailing low across his stomach to hold him close. He wonders if he should be angry that she’s using her feminine wiles but then he moans into her mouth and seriously, who the hell cares?

When they pull away for air a few minutes later, Annie brushes her nose against his, kissing the tip tenderly. “I love you.”

“I know.”

"And I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

"I know that too." Jeff pulls her head against his chest, palming her hair, silky soft beneath his hand. “But don’t you think we’ve been through enough to let Shirley interfere with us?”

She draws lazy circles on his pecs. “Yes.”

“Okay, so let’s stop caring what Shirley and everyone else thinks and we’ll, I don’t know, kick their butts with our awesomeness because, let’s face it Annie, being with me automatically makes us awesome.”

Annie chuckles and nuzzles closer. "Well, that's true."

"And if all else fails, I’ll take her to lunch, show her a good time and give her a big speech about how much I love you.”

“Careful, Jeff. Your feelings are showing.”

“Shush. Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.”

She reaches out to smack his chest but he catches her hand and their fingers intertwine, instinctively, like they always do.

They lay there for a while, sun dusting their bodies through the open blinds. Palm against palm, Annie measures the size of her hand against his; engulfed by the comfortable silence Jeff’s never shared with anyone else.

“See? I told you. Giant man hands.”

“I thought we’d already established how much you love my giant man hands.” Jeff slips his hand beneath the sheet, lightly trailing the length of Annie’s abdomen.

“I do, I really do.” She gasps, spine arching slightly. “Just like we’ve discovered how talented my tiny female hands are.”

“Yes, but you also learned they weren’t needed to make things look bigger, were they?” he asks with a grin.

“Mmmhmm. I do love to learn.” She smiles and draws him in for another kiss, their lips moving languidly, learning and re-learning the same delicious pattern.

Jeff rolls over, covering her body with his own, but then Annie’s stomach rumbles loudly, breaking the silent spell, and they both laugh.

“You see, this is what happens when you jump me as soon as I come in the door. We don’t get to eat dinner and now I’m starving. I demand you take me to Denny’s.”

Jeff rolls back onto his side and palms her stomach softly. “I don’t know. Going to Denny’s kind of interferes with my whole ‘spend two days naked’ plan.”

Annie sits up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. “Okay, compromise. Take me to Denny’s for breakfast and I won’t wear a single item of clothing for the rest of the day in this apartment. Deal?”

Jeff smiles wickedly and tugs the sheet away, watching the slow reveal of pale flesh and the hungry look in Annie’s eye that has _nothing_ to do with food.

“Deal.”


	11. April 2013

_**April 2013** _

 

Standing outside his locker for his midday wardrobe adjustment, Jeff taps one finger against his chin in consideration of the garment hanging inside. It’s a tricky decision because he always looks so damn good in everything. Really, it’s a curse.

“The gray one, definitely the gray,” Annie says out of nowhere, smile playful, her fingers anchored around the straps of her backpack. "The blue just isn’t working."

“Hmm. I’m not sure about that," Jeff tells her, leaning up against the lockers beside his own. "We both know what happens when I wear the blue shirt, don’t we?”

“That was one time and you were just as impatient to get the shirt off as I was. Besides, I sewed the buttons back on,” she says, and slides her hand along the strip of buttons down his chest. “It looks as good as new. The same can’t be said about my...” She glances around the hallway before whispering, “Panties. You still owe me a new pair.”

“But Annie, you were just as impatient to get the panties off as I was.”

“Well, then, I guess we’re at an impasse.”

His head shakes softly. “Dammit, we just can’t agree on anything.”

“I know," she agrees. "How are we even still together? It’s illogical.”

“Completely.”

Jeff can’t fight the grin anymore and allows it to span his cheeks until they hurt, his pulse quickening as Annie matches it, beam for beam.

“Come here,” he murmurs.

She treads closer until he can feel her breasts pressing against his chest, the view from his height more than pleasing. Her backpack falls to the floor with a thud once he pushes it off her shoulders, his hands eager to explore the dip of her waist and the slight curve of her hips and ass.

She's wearing one of her tiny floral skirts today and he's honestly been struggling to keep his hands to himself for the better part of the morning, needing to touch that strip of skin where the hem of her skirt hits her thighs. His hands have felt desperate with it.

“Hi,” Annie whispers, meeting his eye intently.

Jeff brushes some of her hair away from her face, unable to take his eyes off her as he tugs on a loose curl and lets it spring back. “Hey.”

“Kiss me.”

“Would you look at that? We agree on something.”

He smiles as he ducks down and she stretches up, their lips meeting halfway. Soon everything slips beyond the awareness of glossy lips and hot tongues and the feel of Annie’s hair soft beneath his fingertips. Annie hums with pleasure, that same low throated moan she makes when she's turned on, but thoughts of quick routes to storage closets are shaken by a loud and stilted cough, and they both freeze with recognition.

Wrenching his mouth away, Jeff looks along the hallway, though his head snaps back quickly.

“Crap. Shirley’s giving me the level five evil death stare again. Bazinga, Annie, bazinga!”

Annie rolls her eyes, discreetly trying to thumb away his kiss from her mouth. “You can’t use our safe word to save you from being looked at, Jeff. I don't think it works like that.”

“Excuse me but I think if anyone could kill someone by looking at them, it’d be Shirley. And you, probably, because you're pretty committed in everything you do.” Jeff clears his throat once, twice, three times. “Seriously, Annie, my throat feels really tight. It’s like her hands are mentally squeezing the life out of me.”

“Oh, don’t be so ridiculous. That's just anxiety.”

She watches as he rubs his neck and throat like there's something caught there, follows his line of sight to where Shirley disappeared along the hallway, and huffs an annoyed breath.

“I’ve had enough of this," she says. "I’ll talk to her.”

“No, if anyone talks to Shirley, it should be me," Jeff insists, even though he'd rather not. "That’s probably the reason she’s so mad because I didn’t confide in her. That and, you know, I’m defiling the youngest member of our group. I'm basically screwed on all levels.”

Sliding her hands into the back pockets of his jeans, Annie cups his ass and tugs his body flush against hers so they're standing snugly, hip to hip.

“But Jeff, I want you to defile me,” she says on a whispery breath, and giggles at his expression.

“You’re turning me on when I’m about to go talk to Shirley? Seriously? _"_

_Chang…Leonard…Pierce…Chang…_

“You’re too easy,” Annie teases with a smile. “Look, I’ve got to go. Annie Kim will steal my front seat if I don’t hurry to class.”

“But what do I say to Shirley? How do I even begin to handle this?”

“Tell her what we talked about last week. Tell her the truth. You’re her friend and you’re Jeff Winger. You can Winger your way out of this. I believe in you.”

Jeff rolls his head to one side, expression unconvinced. “Inspiring, Annie. Really.”

“I know, right? I’ll see you at lunch.”

With a quick kiss to his lips, Annie dips to grab her backpack before running through the students swarming the hallway trying to get to class, leaving Jeff alone, flooded by her lingering scent and filled with anxiety.

 

~x~

 

Once the crowd has thinned to a level he can deal with, Jeff glances at his watch.

He doesn't have a class right now and his free period is usually an hour he spends with Shirley, sharing gossip over cups of coffee before everyone else arrives for lunch. But the last couple of weeks have been noticeably different. 

Before he can talk himself out of it, Jeff slams his locker shut with a metal clunk of finality and heads to the cafeteria. 

Sure enough, Shirley's hovering by the line at the coffee machine as usual, staring at the Dean with a mixture of confusion and disgust as he hops between the tables. He's wearing a soft pink bunny costume with oversized ears and a small basket hooked over the crook of his arm as he hands out flyers for the Easter 'Hop' dance.

"Jeffrey!" The Dean lights up, delighted at the sight of him. "Will you be 'hopping' on over to our-"

"Not now, Dean."

Jeff pushes the disheartened look on Craig's face to the back of his mind and wanders over to Shirley, his footsteps cautious of the fate that awaits him.

Shirley seems to have noticed him as she's gripping her purse tightly and looking around with feigned interest of everything but his face. 

“So…” Jeff comes to a halt and stuffs his hands into his jean pockets. “I missed you at Señor Kevin’s last week. I gotta say, I haven’t been stood up in quite some time. Oh wait. I’ve never been stood up. Ever. Congratulations on being my first. I feel like I should buy you something to celebrate. How about some rope to strangle me with? Or a knife to cut off my balls?”

“Jeffrey!”

“Oh, I’m sorry Shirley. Was that inappropriate? Inaccurate? Because I don’t think so.”

Shirley fusses with the zip of her purse, trying not to look at him still. “I’m sorry but I was busy. I have three children and a husband and -”

“A huge problem with me and Annie. I get it.” He scrubs a palm down the scruff of his jaw. “Look, I’m sorry I never told you about us. I was wrong to hide it from you.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“But we just…wanted time on our own, you know, to see if we could work together… as a…couple.”

Jeff winces, the words feeling awkward in his mouth, and he wonders if she’ll realize he’s just repeating Annie verbatim. He sighs heavily at her non response.

“Shirley, you’re just gonna have to let this one go," he tells her finally. "I’m with Annie and that’s not going to change.”

“I can see that, Jeffrey. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“True. But you accept things about your friends, even the stuff you don’t like. Because, let’s face it, I could say plenty about Andre and the fact that you took him back after everything he did to you and all the pain he caused. Hey, let’s call Britta! I’m sure she’d love the chance to unleash everything she feels about your husband. But we don’t because we care about you and if he’s what you want, then who are we to say any different? Your relationship is none of our business.”

"And Annie’s what you want?" Shirley asks him firmly, instantly. "You’re not just doing this to satisfy your curiosity or scratch an itch?”

“Do you really think I’d be in this if I didn’t want to be? Come on, Shirley. Really? You know me.”

She hitches her purse strap higher on her shoulder. “I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“That’s what this is about?”

“You know I’m all about the sisterhood, Jeffrey.”

Jeff exhales heavily, feeling tired all of a sudden. “Look, I think if anyone was going to get hurt, it’d be me.” At the sound of her tiny gasp, his eyes widen in a panic and he hurries to add, “Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

Hands clasped together against her chest, she watches him silently and Jeff’s pulse quickens with every passing minute.

“Oh, Jeffrey! You love her?”

He fingers the collar of his shirt, uncomfortable suddenly, and realizes Annie had a point. This blue shirt just wasn't working. It actually feels pretty suffocating right now.

“Yes," he admits, begrudgingly. "But can we change the subject now because you’re making me uncomfortable and that’s saying something because we’re in the presence of the Dean.”

“Okay.” Shirley pulls him down for a hug, one hand patting his back softly. When they pull apart, she searches his face with interest. “Are you happy Jeffrey?”

“Yeah… I…” He nods dazedly, as though he’s only just figured it out because the truth is no one's actually asked him that before, not once, and the feeling sort of bursts warm inside. “I really am.”

“That’s nice.”

"So…" He studies her cautiously for a moment. “Are we good?”

“It will take a little getting used to but yes. Don’t think this is an invitation to start doing ungodly things in front of me. No one wants to see that.”

They share a smile, soft and kind of goofy, and Shirley gives him a quick consenting nod that finally unleashes the tightness in his throat, like he can breathe easy again.

“You get the coffee," she says. "I’ll get our seats.”

 

~x~

 

It's the first thing Jeff does when he reaches his car - flip down the sun visor to stare at the business card tucked there, the one Annie gave him for Christmas. He traces the lettering again, the way he did all those months ago, and feels a frisson of excitement at all the possibilities now. The potential. 

Unable to wipe the grin off his face, he switches on the radio and pulls out of the parking lot in downtown Denver, thumbs tapping the wheel with every beat. Not even the heavy rush-hour traffic en route to Greendale can kill his good mood. He feels like singing until his lungs empty and his ears bleed. He'd probably even hug Leonard if he was around.

There is only one person he wants to share his mood with and he finally knocks on her apartment door thirty minutes later.

“IT'S OPEN!”

Jeff wanders inside finding Annie alone, sitting cross-legged in one of the recliners with a bowl of popcorn perched in her lap.

“Annie, what have I told you? When you’re alone you can’t just say “it’s open” without checking who it is first. In this neighborhood I could have been an axe murderer or something.”

“Psssh. I knew it was you,” she dismisses, her hand a careless flutter. “Besides, I lived above Dildopolis and had to deal with Spaghetti on a daily basis for years. I can handle myself. I have a gun, Jeff. Now shush!”

Jeff moves to the spare recliner, touching Annie’s hair softly as he passes. “You own a gun? Why am I just finding out about this? Did you ever need to use it?”

Annie huffs, making an exaggerated show of pressing pause on the remote, and the screen freezes on Nathan Fillion’s face. “Jeff, I love you but seriously? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something here?”

'No," he chuckles. “Middle of what?”

“Castle. I’m using my study break to catch up because the guys never let me watch it. Something about heartache over Firefly and a grieving process and it being too soon to watch Captain Malcolm Reynolds in anything else? I don’t know. The point is, this is the only chance I'll get to watch it.”

"But I'm here now and I look so good and you haven't even noticed," Jeff whines a little, though he's smiling.

Annie finally looks at him properly in his dark blue suit, the matching navy tie. “You do look smart.”

“Just smart?”

“I would say handsome but you’d just accuse me of stating the obvious.”

"That's true," he laughs softly, drawing her hand up to his mouth for a kiss, his thumb brushing delicate circles over the same spot.

Annie smiles tenderly as she weaves their fingers together. "Is there a particular reason you came over here looking good enough to eat?" she asks.

Jeff grins at that, the way he always does when anyone compliments him but especially Annie.  

“I just got back from my meeting with Ted,” he says.

“What? When? Why?”

“There are five W’s, Annie. You missed two.”

“Jeff!” Annie shoves the bowl of popcorn on the floor, ignoring the tumble of puffed kernels and their bid for escape, and turns to face him, smacking his arm lightly. “You didn’t tell me you were meeting Ted.”

“I didn’t want to say anything in case it fell apart.” He studies their linked hands as he swirls soft patterns there with his fingertip. “I didn’t tell anyone this but it wasn’t guaranteed that I’d go back to Ted’s firm after graduation.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I only made a deal with the Colorado state bar, not with Ted. So I think he was testing me with the consultancy job and it looks like I passed, what with carrying Alan’s weight last summer. I think my old acquittal rate helped too.”

“So…” Annie examines the edge of the recliner where her fingers pinch and pull the fabric. “You won't be going out of state to a new firm?”

It feels ridiculous for his heart to race at the sound of hope in her voice but he's come to learn how much Annie's love for him really matters, how important it is that she wants him around. When their eyes finally meet, he unleashes the smile he’s been holding since he walked inside.

“All being well, I should be back at the firm by September. I’ve just got to, you know, graduate and retake the bar exam in July to get my license. But if I do that, I'm in.”

“Oh my god, Jeff!” she squeals, tugging on his tie to lure him to her lips.

Annie’s delight is contagious because Jeff can’t stop grinning and they smile against each other's mouth and laugh through every kiss.

“I knew you could do it," she says, and the pride in her voice is unmistakable. "Let’s go out to celebrate!”

“What’s this? Annie Edison wilfully interrupts her study schedule?”

“Well, we all need a break and this news needs toasting!”

“I’ve taught you well,” Jeff says with a grin, but then he grows a little hesitant and serious for a second. “You’re not going to cry are you?”

She smiles at him with shiny eyes. “I’m just so proud of you, Jeff. Oh my god, I could burst!”

“Please don’t. This is my favorite suit.”

Her hand flies out to thump his chest and Jeff uses the opportunity to tug her into his lap, needing her closer. It's a tight fit on the recliner but Annie adapts to the position quickly; one knee planted either side of his hips, palms flat against his chest.

“Listen.” He holds her chin in a pinch while his fingertips trace a soft line from her temple to cheekbone. “I couldn’t have done it without your support, and I’m not just talking about stealing your double-spaced notes. Okay?”

Annie nods, a stray tear rolling down her cheek which Jeff quickly thumbs away. Pressing their foreheads together, they sit for a few minutes just staring and smiling, cross-eyed from their closeness until Annie pulls away, trailing her fingers down the length of his tie.

“Let me put on a fancy dress for my handsome soon-to-be-Lawyer boyfriend and we’ll go out. I’ll be five minutes.”

She punctuates her promise with a smacking kiss to his lips and climbs off his lap, squealing and jumping in surprise when Jeff smacks her ass. She shoots him a naughty grin and hurries into her bedroom and Jeff spends a full minute grinning goofily at her door.

True to her word, Annie reappears five minutes later, a slick of gloss on rose-bud lips and a gold purse tucked under her arm. She’s wearing a short red cocktail dress that Jeff knows would look great on his bedroom floor and he decides to make that his reward by the end of the night, his blood pumping harder at the thought.

“You look beautiful.” Jeff smiles at her flushed cheeks and reaches for her hand. “Shall we?”

 

~x~

 

An hour later, Jeff sits in a dark booth in the same bar he frequented with Alan last June.

It’s low-lighted and smoky and the leather seat squeaks as he stretches one arm along the back of the booth to get comfortable, his free hand playing with the last drop of scotch rolling around the glass.

Annie walks across from the bar then, and Jeff follows the sensual sway of her hips as she weaves between stools and tables. She’s too busy watching her hazardous path on the floor and trying not to spill their drinks to notice the men around her and the way they're watching her, and Jeff can’t help the flare of possessiveness and pride he feels at their obvious appreciation for his Annie.

His and only his.

“What are you smiling at?”

Annie slips back into the seat, shuffling closer to his body until they're pressed thigh against thigh. His arm falls from the back of the booth to cradle her shoulder and he can feel the warmth of her skin through his pants, so close but not close enough.

“Just congratulating myself,” he says, and knocks back the rest of his drink.

“Aww, you should!” She strokes and pats his thigh softly. “You’ve worked really hard.”

He huffs a laugh at that. “I’ve not worked hard at all, Annie. C'mon.”

She swirls her straw around her drink, the action tinkling the ice cubes against the glass. “Okay, fair point. But for your minimal effort you will have a degree so you can finally be a lawyer for real. For that you should be proud, I guess.”

“Oh, I am. But I was actually congratulating myself on my hot girlfriend. And while most guys here would love to take you home, it’s my bed you’ll be in tonight. Now that's reason enough to be proud.”

"Ew. I’m not some prize, Jeff. You’re lucky Britta’s not here yet. She’d rant about all the things that were wrong with – wait, why isn’t anyone else here yet?”

“I didn’t text them,” Jeff says with a shrug.

“But I thought you wanted to celebrate.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. See?” He wiggles his glass with one hand and squeezes her shoulder with the other. “Alcohol plus hot woman equals celebration. My kind of math.”

Annie rolls her eyes and starts digging around in her purse. “I’ll text them then. Everyone would want to celebrate this with you. It's a big deal.”

Jeff grabs her wrist. “Can’t a guy just spend some time with his girlfriend, alone? I’ve hardly seen you this week. There’s something wrong when _Castle_ gets a scheduled study break but I don’t.”

“Wait.” Annie places her glass on the table with a clink and shuffles sideways, away from his embrace. “You’re jealous? You're jealous of a TV character?”

“Psssh. No. I just think it’s strange that you have a study break to drool over Castle but not me. That’s not jealousy. That’s just speculating. I’m speculating as to why Nathan whatever-his-name-is ranks higher than me.”

Annie plays with one of his trademark smirks as she toys with his tie. “You want me to drool over you?”

“I don’t know how you don’t drool over me to be honest. Let’s face it, Annie, I’m drool-worthy. Look at me.”

She giggles and shifts closer again. “I shouldn’t encourage this but you are. You totally are.”

She draws him to her mouth and their lips meet slow and seeking. She swallows his husky growl as her hand slides up his chest, moving under the lapels of his jacket to where his body heat radiates through his shirt. Annie moans into his mouth and it’s all Jeff can do not to drag her onto his lap and do things to her, many dirty things. His fingers tighten on her knee and he's just starting to tug her leg over his when she wrenches her mouth away, slightly breathless.

“You taste like scotch.” Annie licks her lips as she wipes the remnants of tinted gloss from his smiling mouth. “I’m sorry we’ve not spent much time together this week. But I’ve got my first final next week and you know how important that is."

"I do, considering I'm taking it too but whatever."

"Plus, you know, you went to the movies with Abed and had dinner with Shirley, oh and drinks with Britta. It’s not just me.”

“I know,” he says, and caresses her knee softly. “Look, it’s weird because I’m not usually one for thinking about this kind of stuff, but meeting Ted and being so close to graduation is making me realize how little time we have left just us.”

Her brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on, Annie. You’re going to be flouncing off to some fancy law school pretty soon.”

“I thought you compartmentalized that kind of stuff.”

“I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass,” he mutters.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just. I haven’t mentioned law school because you get pretty upset whenever I do.”

He can’t argue there. The last time Annie approached the subject he actually stuck his fingers in his ears and left her bedroom. Sometimes he still can’t believe he watched _Inspector Spacetime_ with Abed instead of having sex with his girlfriend – especially hot in her bed because it became a game of how quiet they could be, and he loves winning games and sex and winning all the sex.

Jeff shrugs. “Yeah, well, with good reason.”

“Yes, I know but. Okay.” Annie sits up straight, pausing to lick her lips. "I have something to tell you," she says carefully.

Jeff frowns at the sudden seriousness on her face and the formality of her hands folded in her lap and has to beat down the flicker of panic rising in his gut but shit, he started this conversation.

"Okay..."

“Yesterday I mailed my acceptance letter to the University of Colorado.”

His eyes widen at that because whatever he was expecting her to say, it wasn't that. “What happened to Stanford?” he asks.

“Well, a few things. I didn’t get the scholarship I applied for -”

“Annie…”

“No, it’s okay, really it is, and I'm not just trying to convince myself either. I was a little upset but these things happen don’t they? Sometimes we have to make sacrifices and I’ve made mine.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Jeff doesn’t think he’s ever felt so shitty and ecstatically happy all at once. “I’m sorry. Stanford doesn't deserve you.”

Annie smiles, her whole face softening. “It’s okay. Colorado is still ranked as one of the best law schools in the country and has cheaper tuition and I’ll be close to my family. I know I’d be fine in California but to tell you the truth, I don’t actually want to be without everyone.”

Her sentiment hangs in the air between them. Jeff tries to spot her 'tell' that she's lying but finds nothing, and reaches for her hand.

“Come here.”

He wraps one arm around her again, brushing her shoulder in comforting strokes, and she sinks into him with a soothed sigh, her hand smoothing under his jacket again. Just like always when she's as close as this, he’s filled with the scent of her perfume, delicate and summery and so very Annie.

“Are you sure about this, Annie?”

“Yes. I really am," she says, and the certainty in her voice is what settles him. "I’m actually pretty excited because now I can start planning and making lists! Semester starts at the end of August and there’s just so much to do before then!”

He chuckles. “You’re not going to hate me for being happy about this are you?”

"I could never hate you," she hums quietly, kissing the underside of his jaw.

“In that case, I’m really fucking happy about this.” He grins wide, slipping his hand under the hem of her dress to caress the length of her thigh. “So…you’ll be in Boulder. That’s what, 40 minutes away?”

“Even less in a Lexus, if I had to guess.”

“Well, what do you know? That’s my car.”

“See?" she says, smile the softest he's ever seen. "It’s a sign.”


	12. May 2013

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** I ended this on a much cheesier note than initially intended but I just couldn't help it. These two do weird things to me. I don't even recognise myself right now. Anyway, thanks for reading. It's been a blast. :)

**_May 2013_ **

It’s early Wednesday and there's a smattering of drizzly rain against the window when Jeff is stirred from a deep slumber, drawn to consciousness by a low whispering of his name, over and over. He's aware of slightly cold palms pressing into his chest a couple of times, and the warm burn of a soft pair of lips against his collarbone.

The perspective and glow of his alarm clock is blurred and distorted when he lets one eye flutter open to check the time, and he groans at the digits that really should be illegal first thing in the morning.

“Jeff, wake up! Jeff!”

He tries to roll over, bury his face in his pillow, but the mattress shifts as Annie climbs on top of him, straddling his hips and bouncing almost frantically and _not_ in a good way.

He’s not even naked enough to enjoy this or, you know, conscious.

“Annie," he groans, voice deep and croaky with sleep. "We’ve discussed this. I’m not a morning person. Mornings are the Jim Belushi of daytime.”

“I’m too excited to sleep!” she whisper-shouts, even though they're the only two in the room.

“In that case, go bounce somewhere else, preferably to the living room. And if you happen to bounce over to the coffee pot I wouldn’t mind.” He smacks her ass a couple of times to get her to move and closes his eyes again, exhaling heavily as he tries to resettle, tries to lure back that sweet warmth of sleep.

Annie huffs and shifts her weight lower, grinding against him more determinedly this time. “ _Jeefffff_ …”

"You little..." Jeff lurches, snatching her hips and gripping firmly to stop her movements. “Don’t play dirty, Annie. You. Will. Lose.”

“Oh really?” She tests her theory with a slow roll of her hips, smiling wildly at his response as he starts to harden beneath her. “Just what I thought,” she says smugly.

He groans again, low and husky, and lifts himself into a seated position against the headboard, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Okay, I’m up. I’m up.”

"In more ways than one," Annie says with laughter in her voice, and trails the sculpted line down the centre of his torso with one teasing fingertip, circling his navel and then down the happy trail disappearing underneath the sheet.

“Well, Annie. It's the morning and I’m a man and you’re naked -”

“Not exactly. I’m wearing your t-shirt,” she says, pinching the fabric in the way that grates his nerves and letting it fall back again.

“Okay, Miss Pedantic, you’re naked where it counts and…" he trails off, eyes drawn to the way his t-shirt is now clinging to the slope of her braless breasts and how he can pretty much see everything through the material. "Why am I annoyed about this again?” he wonders, shakes his head and grips the hem of her t-shirt, her hair crackling with static as he pulls it over her head.

Annie shivers as the cooler air hits her skin but grins triumphantly and shifts closer in his lap until they're just skin against skin. She leans forward to kiss his collarbone and Jeff shudders, grasping her ass to steady himself. His eyes close as she nuzzles the length of his neck with her nose and flicks his earlobe with the flat of her tongue.

“We’re graduating tomorrow,” she says, low and almost suggestively, before she bites and tugs at his earlobe a little.

Jeff rolls his neck to one side, allowing her to suck the line of his pulse because he really loves it when she does that, and swallows hard. “Are you trying to talk dirty to me? Because it needs some work.”

She snatches her mouth away, ignoring his moan of disappointment, and glares at him.

“What? I know you're excited about tomorrow, Annie, but when you’re grinding naked in my lap I don’t really want to talk about Greendale or diplomas or where I see myself in ten years.”

He walks his fingertips along the line of her collarbone and down to her breasts, lifting and squeezing them in both hands.

Annie’s spine arches involuntarily. “Yes, but…”

“But?” Jeff peppers her shoulder with soft wet kisses, as his hand traces her sternum now, trailing lower and lower down her abdomen and between her legs until he's cupping her. "You were saying?"

“It’s a…um…momentous occasion, for both of us.” She bites her lip and tightens her grip against him with his every touch. “You’ve been building to this… Stop that!”

“See? It’s distracting.” Jeff smirks and smoothes Annie's hair over her shoulder. “Here’s a novel idea. Why don’t we talk about graduation once we’ve actually graduated? Everyone will be looking ridiculous in those stupid gowns and those stupid caps and -”

“For the last time, you _have_ to wear the cap, Jeff. It's compulsory.”

“I know that, Annie, but I think people should have a choice. You know how long it takes me to do my hair first thing and then I'm expected to flatten it with that polyester crap. It's not fair.”

She folds her arms sharply beneath her bare breasts, pushing everything upwards in the best kind of way.

“You’re so predictable,” she says.

“Depends on your definition. What you call predictable, I call dedication to my ravishing good looks.” He grins and winks and ignores Annie’s epic eye roll, adding, “Anyway, as I was saying, we’ll discuss all our hopes and dreams for the future tomorrow.”

“Jeff.”

“And afterwards we can hold hands and skip off into the sunset.”

“ _Jeff_.”

“And maybe we can even sing a song,” he smirks and then laughs "Hey! I thought you liked singing!" when Annie slaps his chest a couple of times.

“Jeff! I get it, okay? You don’t want to talk about graduation. Understood. Message received.” She links her fingers behind his neck, her thumbs tracing idly and soft against the sensitive spot behind his ear. “Just shut up and kiss me,” she says.

So he does.

 

~x~

 

Late afternoon the following day, Jeff stands beside the Luis Guzmán statue with his rolled up diploma in one hand.

The quad is teeming with students and families, filling the air with cheers and chatter, but it all sounds so distant – like the noise is in another room. He lost sight of the group after the ceremony and now he’s just waiting and watching and feeling a little lost for words and thoughts and everything.

It’s just… _holy shit,_ he did it.

He graduated.

Even though he didn’t work that hard most of the time, Jeff feels a strange sense of achievement – ridiculous for someone who faked a degree and practiced law successfully for years.

But this time, the diploma he hangs on his wall will be honest and real. 

He’s still lost in that thought when Annie comes charging towards him, blue robes billowing in the breeze and speed of her movements, and jumps and wraps her arms around his shoulders as much as she can.

Jeff catches her, though he stumbles a little from the force of her embrace, and holds her steady for long, slow kiss.

“We did it, Jeff! We did it!” she says, once he's set her back on her feet, and her excitement vibrates through his chest as she bounces and jiggles, completely unable to stay still. 

"I know," Jeff laughs and smoothes the hair away from her face. “I was there.”

“Did you hear me cheer for you when your name was called?”

“Yes. I think the whole campus heard you.”

“Actually, the Dean made that noise. He’s going to miss you, poor thing. You are his favorite.” Her smile fades at the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just…”

“Overwhelmed?” she guesses.

He nods. “A little. It’s weird, though. I don’t even know why.”

Annie grasps his hand and stares at their interlinked fingers intently. “This is why you didn’t want to talk yesterday morning, because you’re sad that it’s over.”

“Well, I kinda think it was because it was 6am and you were naked but yeah, I guess. Don't tell anyone though.”

“Aww, you’re such a big softie.” She kisses the back of his hand with so much tenderness, nuzzles his knuckles with the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

He chuckles lightly but his humor drains away as he stares off into the crowds, feeling Annie watching him from beneath her eyelashes, nibbling the pink glaze from her lips for a long moment of silence.

Jeff finally inhales and exhales and squeezes her hand.

“This is it, Annie. The end.”

“It’s not the end," she says quietly, squeezing his hand back. "It’s just the beginning.”

“Ugh, that sounds like something you read on one of those cheesy quotable cards. I’m judging you right now.”

“Regardless of where I read it, the sentiment still stands. How could you possibly think this is the end? You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Okay, gag, you're making it worse."

"Nope. I'm not letting you do this. We’re together and we’re happy, aren't we?"

"I have very few complaints," he says with a smile.

"And you’re going to be a lawyer again. I’m off to law school. Britta’s going to do her master’s degree. Shirley and Pierce are developing their own business. Greendale was just a means to an end but not _the_ end. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m just thinking that you’re going to be one fucking amazing lawyer,” Jeff says, a little awed and proud at how far she's come.

Annie beams, delighted and hopeful. “You really think so?”

“Oh, I know so," he says, and he really does. If there's one thing he knows for certain, it's that Annie Edison is going to be fucking amazing, in whatever she does.

"I only hope I never come up against you in court,” he finishes.

“Charmer. But that would never happen because it would be a conflict of interest, you know, the defence sleeping with the prosecution, assuming we'd be on opposite sides.” She gazes up at him pointedly, planting her hands on her hips when he just throws her a shit-eating grin. “Jeffrey Tobias Winger, you should know this.”

“Yeaaahhh…You don’t honestly believe I was the kind of lawyer who obeyed shit like that do you?”

“I guess not. But it’s different now. Right?”

Jeff gazes at her blue eyes, full of hope and expectation, and there’s a trust in him there that still makes his pulse race after all this time and he wonders if it will always be that way. He smiles softly. “Right.”

She grins proudly, clearly pleased with his answer, and threads an arm around his waist. “Come on. Abed wants a picture taken on the library steps. Something about symmetry, I'm not sure why.”

Jeff throws his arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss into her hair as they walk. “You know, I’ve got to retake the Bar soon. Maybe you could help me study? Seeing as you’re such an expert on this.”

“I’ve already started the study cards.”

Jeff laughs, a deep rumbling in his chest because,  _of course_ she has. He expected nothing less.

“Shit, what have I just unleashed? Am I going to regret this?”

“Well, if you’re a good boy and do all your assigned study tasks, I’ll give you a reward.”

His eyes narrow with interest. “I’m listening.”

“You remember a few weeks ago we were talking about our...” She glances around, whispering, “Fantasies?”

Jeff nods, pulse quickening as he recalls the moment they stretched out on his bed and confessed everything they ever wanted to do as they undressed each other slowly, and he somehow manages to croak out a husky, "Yeah..."

“Well, for every successful study session, I’ll act one out.” Annie comes to a halt a few feet away from the library steps where their friends are waiting, and stretches up to whisper, her breath all hot against his ear, “I’ve already bought a red wig.”

He swallows hard at the thought, confused by the mix of arousal and the heart fluttering he gets at the things Annie would do for him.

“Well. I do love to study, and by study I mean -”

Annie slaps a hand across his mouth. “I know exactly what you mean and I can’t wait.”

She spins and flounces over to their friends, leaving him dazed and partially aroused and never more eager to study in his life.

 

~x~

 

That night Jeff wanders into Morty’s steakhouse in downtown Denver. He follows the hostess silently, weaving between ivory-clothed tables and the low chatter of diners, the clink of glasses and cutlery on china plates. There’s some kind of piano music tinkering unobtrusively in the background.

Jeff is dazed by the memory of this place – where he used to wine and dine clients and two-week flings – and it almost feels like he doesn’t fit anymore.

It’s surreal.

In all the years he’s built up to this date, to this moment, he never imagined it would feel like this, kind of anticlimactic and sad. His feet itch to leave and the sight of his six friends sat around a large round table in the corner could not be more welcome.

He smiles in relief, smoothing his tie as he takes his seat and nods his greetings. To his left Annie beams at him, bare shoulders glowing pale in the low light. He leans over to kiss her cheek softly, just once, and when he finds her knee under the table, Annie rests her hand on top of his, squeezing encouragingly as if she knows his thoughts and emotions are a tumultuous mess beneath the surface and he's barely holding it together inside.

“As you’re predictably late I ordered you a scotch,” she tells him.

“Annie, c'mon. It would be out of character if I arrived on time.” He pauses, noticing the rise of every pair of eyebrows at the table. “Shit, it’s happened. I’ve turned into Abed. No offence.”

“None taken.”

 Jeff smiles at his expressionless friend. “Anyway, thanks for coming guys. I'm glad you're here.”

“We wouldn’t miss it. This is your big series finale moment, Jeff. Personally, I would have preferred this to happen on Greendale’s library steps for some sort of symmetry but this works too.”

“Jeffrey, I don’t know what Abed’s talking about but we’re very happy to be here,” Shirley chirps happily from behind a large leather-bound menu, then lowers her voice to mutter, “And momma’s looking forward to letting her hair down.”

“Your hair is already down.” Abed tilts his head a little. “I don’t understand.”

The talk descends into another round of weird explanations, and Annie takes the opportunity to slide her hand up Jeff’s arm to tickle and tease the soft skin of his neck above his collar. She leans to the side, dusting his jawline with delicate kisses and Jeff grins, humming his pleasure quietly. He’s certain she can hear the vibrations beneath her fingertips when their eyes meet knowingly, smiles soft, and he reaches over to finger the necklace he got her for her birthday all those months ago.

Shirley coughs pointedly, drawing their eyes away. “Do you two lovebirds need to do that at the dinner table?”

“Yeah, I’m eating.”

Jeff rolls his eyes. “We haven’t even ordered yet, Pierce.”

“Shirley has a point though. We're at a group dinner and you're acting like you're the only two here. And as a licenced Psych major I feel it’s important you learn to restrain yourself.”

“Says the woman playing footsie under the table with Troy.”

Britta’s jaw drops wide and then she glares and pouts sourly as Annie continues smugly, “Yeah, that's right, missy. I saw you when I picked up my napkin from the floor. And also Britta, that makes no sense.”

“All I’m saying is you’re helping to feed Jeff’s ego and that's the kind of thing that could do with missing a few meals, if you get what I'm saying.”

Jeff smirks. “You’ve got a set of Rorschach inkblots in your bag, haven’t you?”

“No!” Britta pauses, sheepish, before adding, “They’re in my car.”

Jeff can’t help but smile.

“Anyway, Annie, as I was saying before your boyfriend _rudely_ interrupted me," she continues. "Do you really want a repeat of the Bar Mitzvah disaster of 2012? Do you?”

Troy sips his drink. “Yeah, that whole Jeff-Hulk thing you had going on was not pretty dude.”

"Mmmhmm," Shirley says, glancing up from her menu. “I don’t want Jeffrey’s tongue down my throat again. I’m a happily married woman.”

“Wow," Troy says in awe. "You really have licked all the donuts at this table, Jeff.”

Pierce frowns. “Donuts?”

“This is getting good.” Abed pulls out his cell phone. “Can I film this?”

“NO!” Britta, Annie and Shirley snap simultaneously.

A few diners on surrounding tables look up from their meals and Jeff smiles back awkwardly.

“Guys, I didn’t keep this reservation for four years to get kicked out of the restaurant after ten minutes. Shirley, you can only dream of having my tongue down your throat.” He ignores her loud gasp. “Troy, yes, I’ve licked every donut here. I regret nothing. Pierce, donuts are women in this scenario. And Britta, Annie can’t help it that I’m irresistible.”

Britta rolls her eyes and Annie swats at his arm, though it lacks her usual strength. 

“Yeah, and Britta can’t help playing footsie because she likes my…feet…?” Troy frowns, weighing his words confusedly.

“Everyone…” Shirley begins sweetly. “Can we please stop talking about all this pre-marital fornicating at the dinner table?”

“Oh please," Britta scoffs loudly. "You’re the one who started this conversation and we’re hardly going at it on the tablecloths!”

“Did I ever tell you guys about that time I had sex with -”

“Pierce!” Shirley snaps. “If you even _think_ about finishing that sentence so help me God…”

The air fills with the sound of six voices all fighting for dominance as Abed gets up to film the group with his phone, and Jeff rests his elbows on the table, aware of the heat and weight of Annie's palm against his thigh as he watches everyone with a wistful sort of smile.

 

~x~

 

Two hours later, the group gather outside the restaurant to hug their goodbyes.

Despite promises to see each other over the summer, and the fact that they’re meeting tomorrow for Abed’s debut at the local film festival, there’s something so final about _this_ dinner and everyone knows it, and it makes for a sobering and sombre mood that no one can seem to shake.

Shirley, Annie, Troy and Pierce are a mass of tears and tissues as they hug each other, while Abed stands to one side, unblinkingly passive but Jeff knows there’s another story going on behind that mask, and he makes a mental note to text him later to make sure he's okay.

Britta is quiet – too quiet – with her arms curled around herself, and Jeff bumps her shoulder with his, drawing a thoughtful smile to her lips as she repeats his gesture with a softness she tries so hard not to show.

The muffled wailing grows loud and fitful and someone cries "We're a family!" between loud and stilted sobs and Britta finally starts to crumble, rushing over to wrap and fold herself into the mass of hugs happening right there on the sidewalk.

Jeff stands beside Abed quietly, feeling a rising swell of emotion in the base of his throat, but maybe that's just his twelve year old self talking. He still blames him for the whole crying-at-the-death-of-Horsebot-3000 thing.

Who is he kidding?

It’s the end of an era. An insane life-changing era.

He should be more poignant than that but hey, he’s got nothing.

It takes them another five minutes before they eventually part and go their separate ways, and Jeff throws one arm around Annie’s shoulder and tucks her close as they amble back to his car.

The streets are quiet and the trees along the sidewalk are lit with strings of lights for the start of the film festival, drawing Jeff back to that moment outside the Tranny Dance, where the night was bathed in a warm yellow glow from the lights twinkling in the bushes. The memory of it is so distant that it’s now kind of ethereal, unreal almost. He thinks of everything they said, everything they didn’t, everything that led them to this moment, here, now.

It's overwhelming.

“You’re quiet,” Annie says, and tightens her grip on his waist, her voice jolting his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Jeff nods soundlessly and when they reach his car a moment later, he smiles down at her beautiful albeit tear stained face, pausing to thumb away a watery line of mascara underneath her eyes.

“I love you," he says. "You know that, right?”

The brightness of her smile is almost blinding as Annie bobs her head, bouncing lightly on foot as though she’ll never tire of hearing those words and she just can't contain the emotion behind them.

“Of course I do,” she says softly, and steps closer, tugging on his tie to pull him to her lips, hovering just a whisper away from his mouth. “I love you too.”

Their mouths meet eagerly but there’s a tenderness there that still catches his breath and makes his fingers melt into the flesh of her hips like he can't get close enough. When they eventually pull apart, mouths wet and slightly breathless, Annie gazes up at him inquisitively and starts toying with the end of his tie, smoothing her fingers up the length of it where it rests against his shirt.

“Are you happy we crashed your infamous graduation dinner?” she asks.

“You didn’t crash it. I invited you.”

“Yeah, but only after we all bothered you about it.” She looks sheepish for a second. “After _I_ bothered you.”

Jeff strokes a soft warm path up and down the length of Annie’s arms when he notices the goose bumps rising there. “Well, you’re wrong. I changed my reservation ages ago.”

Her features brighten in surprise. “When?”

“At the end of our second year. Why are you so surprised? I accepted the group as my family a long time ago. You know that.”

“I know it’s just…really?”

He laughs and shucks off his jacket, throwing it around her shoulders. “Yes. Really. Although the reservation did change a couple of times.”

“Oh?” She slides her arms into the sleeves, humming delightedly at the feel of his lingering body heat as she tightens the jacket around her, carefully so not to crease it.

“First, I changed from a table for one to a table for seven. Then a table for six, thinking Pierce was never coming back, and then I left it like that for a long time because I was in denial that Pierce did return.”

Annie giggles into her fingertips.

“And then I changed it to a table for two…” He tugs the lapels of his jacket to pull her closer. “Me and you.”

“Aww. When did you do that?”

“At the end of last summer, around about the time I discovered how much I enjoyed spending time with you.”

“Oh, you mean that time when we weren’t really dating?”

He smiles, shaking his head softly. “Okay, okay, I concede. We were probably kind of dating back then. Maybe. Although I stand by the opinion that dating means fooling around and not once did I get to cop a feel. It was thoroughly disappointing.”

“We had that hot kiss last August and my butt had an imprint of your hand for days.”

He chuckles, eyebrows raised at the memory. “It was pretty hot, wasn’t it?”

“Pretty hot? Jeff, I was seconds away from throwing you on my picnic blanket and having my way with you.” Her voice drops to a scandalous whisper, even though no one is around, “In public.”

“Ditto baby, ditto.”  

Annie stretches up on tiptoes, hands barely peeking through the lengthy sleeves of his jacket as they link behind his neck. Jeff clutches the swell of her behind to pull her close and they stand on the sidewalk, smiles wide and silent.

“So. I have a question.”

“Oh, I see. This is the moment where we discuss our hopes and dreams for the future, right?”

She smiles. “Before we run off into the sunset and sing a song?”

“You know I don't sing, Annie,” he grins.

"Yeah, and for that I'm grateful. We all are."

"Hey! You keep this up and I might leave you to find your own way home."

"Eh. Empty threats," she beams cheekily. "You love me too much."

"What was your question, Annie?" he asks, trying to sound serious and failing epically.

“I just wondered, now that you can look back, did everything work out the way you hoped?”

Jeff studies Annie’s expectant face, a wistful smile grazing his lips slowly as he thinks back to that first semester and everything he had planned.

“No.” He presses his forehead to hers, breathing her scent before kissing her softly. “It’s better.”


End file.
